Returning the Favor
by Yonda
Summary: Ichigo joins the Vaizards after an incident with one of his friends. What will happen to Ichigo when he starts training with the Vaizards? Ichigo K./Lisa Y. pairing. An extended summary can be found on my profile page.
1. Chapter 1: What's this feeling?

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Bleach or any of the characters.

**Chapter 1: What's this feeling?**

As Kurosaki Ichigo was lying on his back in his small bedroom, the events of the previous days attacked his brain, making it impossible to get even a few hours of sleep in. He stared at the ceiling in his little bedroom, while thinking back at his adventures in Soul Society. In a few days time he had battled Captain level Shinigami's, together with his friends and rescued Rukia from death.

Ah, yes, the fights. His battle with Zaraki Kenpachi was one of a kind. Raw power against power. After he'd gotten over his fear from the massive Reiatsu coming from the battle crazy Kenpachi, Ichigo had truly enjoyed the fight. He still wondered just how much blood the captain had in his body, though.

And then there was the fight he'd had with Kuchiki Byakuya. Only thinking back at the fight gave him the shivers. What was that insane power that took control of his body, when he was losing? It had felt very odd. Could there be a connection between that rare power and the Hollow mask he had found after his fight with Abarai Renji?

And then there was the conversation he'd had with Urahara Kisuke when they finally returned to Karakura Town…

[Flashback]

"_Urahara__, can I ask you something?" Ichigo asked, while sitting on the flying carpet bringing him home. Enjoying the light breeze on his face._

"_What's on your mind, Kurosaki?" Urahara asked, already knowing what the boy wanted to ask him._

"_Do you know what that small orb was, that Aizen took from Rukia?"_

"_Ah, you mean one of my first inventions! Yes, I know what that orb is, this story goes way back when I was still a captain in Soul Society." Urahara began, while thinking back at the missing soul case 101 years ago. "Before I went to the real world, strange things were happening in Soul Society. Aizen Sousuke was conducting experiments to see if it was possible to make the Shinigami stronger. He was turning Shinigami into Hollows."_

_Ichigo's eyes widened at this piece of information. "Turning them into Hollows? Why would somebody even want to do that?"_

"_He did that, because he wanted to go to the true heaven, as he called it. But, anyway, as I was saying he was conducting experiments with the souls in Rukongai. We had sent a few people out to investigate this so called 'missing soul case'. Then suddenly the Reiatsu from a Captain and his Vice-captain disappeared. I had sent my Vice-captain out there to help them, so I was starting to get worried and decided to go after her"_

_Urahara sighed as he closed his eyes for a moment, the images that soared through his head, whenever he recalled these events were never pleasant._

"_When I got there" He continued as he opened his eyes again. "I saw several Captains en Vice-captains who were in advanced stages of their Hollowfication. Together with Tessai I moved them to my living quarters and attempted to reverse the Hollowfication with the small orb I created known as Hougyoku. This orb can breach the barrier between Shinigami's and Hollows. I hoped I could save them with it. It didn't go as I had intended, though." Urahara said with a wry laugh._

" _I couldn't reverse the effect with the Hougyoku. But, before I could try anything else I got arrested together with Tessai. We had been accused for all the crimes Aizen Sousuke had commited. Yoruichi saved me and Tessai and moved us to our secret playground, similar to my basement in the Urahara Shop. I made several Gigai's and we escaped Soul Society. I hid the Hougyoku in an unsuspecting soul in Rukongai and arrived here in Karakura Town a few moments later."_

_Ichigo, who had been silent throughout the whole explanation, could merely stare at him while going through everything he had just been told in his head. A few minutes later they had arrived at his house and Urahara ushered him in._

_While returning to the Urahara Shop, the owner was smiling to himself. The boy didn't know what was coming to him just yet. Urahara wanted to go straight to bed, but he had to contact some of his old friends first. Yes, it would be for the best if they did it._

[Flashback end]

Ichigo was still deep in though about everything that Urahara had told him 3 days ago. He couldn't help but notice a few similarities between the people Urahara had saved and himself. That strange power… and the mask he had found. Could it be?

A loud noise distracted him from his musings. What the hell is he up to now? Ichigo didn't think he would be getting any sleep tonight anyway, so he got up and threw on some clothes. He went to the loo to relieve himself and after he was finished, he went downstairs to see why his dad was making this noise. It's always the same with that man.

When Ichigo got downstairs, he found his poor excuse of a father on the couch, jumping up and down like a three year old.

Upon seeing his son, Isshin leapt in the air, moved his arm back ready to punch his son in the face, only to receive a size 10 shoe in his face almost breaking his nose for the second time since Ichigo got back.

"Ouch! Why'd you kick your own father?" Isshin asked with a small pout on his face, while making his 'puppy eye' face.

"Oh, please! Stop that, it looks disgusting on an old fart like you." Ichigo said, with a scowl on his face.

"Disgusting?!"

"Yes, disgusting. Anyway, why where you making all that noise? It's freakin' 5 in the morning!"

"Ah, yes, I wanted to lure you down, so we could have a father-to-son-conversation." Isshin said, with what had to be an attempt for a fatherly smile on his face.

"Right, and it didn't enter your mind, that a simple knock on my door would be better?"

"Well, it did, actually, but I didn't want to disturb my son with his closet-girl, during the mating season. So I decided to use my perfectly toned brains and come up with a brilliant idea to lure my favourite son from his room, to his beloved father."

"Closet-girl?" Ichigo asked, looking at his dad like he was barking mad.

"Yes, that Rukia girl that's living in your closet for the last few months."

Ichigo's eyes widened for a moment as he looked at his dad who sported a huge grin on his face. He knew Rukia was living in his closet? Maybe he wasn't as crazy as people believed him to be.

"For your information dad, Rukia is not _my_ girl, she's not even living in my closet anymore. And why didn't you tell me if you knew?"

"I didn't want to disturb you, the mating season is a fragile period for a teenage boy like you, after all. And why's Rukia gone?" He asked with a shocked expression. "Did you two have a fight on your vacation?"

Ichigo covered his face with the palm of his hand and sighed. "Ugh… dad it's adolescence. And no, we didn't have a fight. There wasn't even an _us_ to begin with, but you said you wanted a 'father-to-son-conversation', right?"

"Yes, that's right" Isshin said while his grin faded from his face. "Urahara wants to see us this evening, he said it was something about the conversation the two of you had, when you got back from rescuing Rukia in Soul Society."

Ichigo's eyes widened in shock upon hearing this, what the hell? But before he could ask his dad just what was going on, his two sister's walked into the living room with droopy eyes complaining about the noise at 5 in the freakin' morning.

Ichigo was still thinking about everything his dad had just told him. Urahara wanted both him _and_ his dad? It must be very important, if even his dad was going to be there as well. There was nothing he could do about that now, though so Ichigo went upstairs to take a quick shower in an attempt to clear his head.

---|---

After eating some breakfast, Ichigo went out to take a stroll. He couldn't stop thinking about his dad and how he seemed to know everything he had tried to hide from him. Just who was he? He also seemed to know Urahara Kisuke the shopkeeper of Urahara Shop, who had requested a meeting with the three of them. Why had Urahara told his father everything that had happened? And what was this meeting about? Could it be that Urahara had noticed something about his rare power? Something that might be similar to….

"Oow, look out where your walking you…oh, it's you Ichigo" a female voice rang out near his feet.

"Oh, sorry Tatsuki" the boy said while helping her get up. "I didn't see you."

"Yeah, I figured as much. What's on your mind, Ichigo? Your frown is even bigger than yesterday" she said with a slight smile, trying to lighten his mood. He could be so depressed at times. Sometimes she felt like punching some sense into his head, like she used to do years ago. After his mother died, he had needed it a few times to get out of his bad mood, but she wasn't sure if she could still beat him. She had seen weird things since he'd come back from his vacation. She decided not to bring it up now, but she wanted to hear everything about it eventually. Only one way to find out who's stronger, though!

"Oh, uhm, nothing really. I was just, you know taking a walk"

Now it was Tatsuki who was frowning, since when did Ichigo go for strolls on the morning? It seems he is very troubled indeed. I'll just have to get him out of this mood then, she thought with an evil grin playing on her lips.

"Say, Ichigo?"

"Hmm?"

"Want to train a bit with me, for old time's sake?"

"Oh, sure, why not? I'm going to get my training clothes at my house, I'll meet you at the training grounds in a bit, okay?"

"Sure, Ichigo" Tatsuki said with a dangerous twinkle in her eyes.

---|---

Twenty minutes later, Ichigo was already regretting his decision to help Tatsuki with her training. Why, oh, why did I agree with her! She's so fast how does she do it without using Shunpo? And the punches and kicks she can give aren't bad either. I ought to work more on my Hand-to-Hand combat if I want to keep up with her, without using Shunpo.

"Do you really think you have time to be daydreaming, Ichigo?" Tatsuki yelled at the orange-haired boy, while kicking up some sand in his face to obscure his view. "You would think you'd learned by now you need your full focus to even stand a chance against me" she continued as she kicked the boy across the training grounds with all the strength she could muster. "It's just like old times, isn't it Ichigo? I had to kick your butt every time you were in one of your famous grumpy moods then, as well"

Ichigo smiled when he thought back at the times he used to spar with his friend, yes it's just like old times indeed. Just when he wanted to jump into the offensive again Ichigo noticed two Hollows not too far from where he was now. Deciding it would be for the best if he got rid of them now, he jumped into action told Tatsuki he had promised his dad he'd help him in the afternoon, and ran towards the two Hollows, while grabbing the amulet which resembled a skull from his pocket.

"Ichigo helping his dad huh, I think not, he has never done that before so why start now? And what's with this tense feeling in the air?" Tatsuki mumbled while walking home to get showered.

While she was walking home Tatsuki heard a deadly screech and the sound of steel against something solid, Ichigo's blade if she had to hazard a guess. "I knew it, that boy brings nothing but trouble since he's back in town." She said to no one in particular.

---|---

After Ichigo had defeated the two weak Hollows, he walked back home at a slow pace with his Zanpakuto Zangetsu resting on his shoulder. He wondered what this strange Reiatsu was. It felt similar to a Hollow, but he was certain it wasn't a Hollow, it was similar but still different. And he had been feeling it ever since he came back, but he was sure if it was a Hollow he would've heard it already, but Ichigo still got a bit worried. Even though he was quite certain it was not a Hollow he just couldn't pinpoint it's location so he couldn't find out where this weird Reiatsu was coming from. Ichigo figured he shouldn't worry too much, though, if it was something dangerous Urahara would've contacted him already, he had very good sensing abilities after all. Much better than his, anyway.

And he was right about that, because when Ichigo jumped through the open window in his own room, he failed to notice the two people who had been watching him fight the two lowly Hollows and had followed him home when he had defeated both of them in less than ten seconds.

Those two people where now returning to their hideout they had used for more than 100 years.

"What did ya think about the kid, Shinji?" A small blonde-haired girl with pigtails and three freckles beneath each eye asked the larger of the two, frowning as always. Despite her appearance she has lived in the real world for over a hundred years now. What she lacked in size she matched up by her temper and strength, she directed to everyone who was stupid enough to tell her she was a small girl.

"He seems alright" The longer boy with jaw-length blonde hair and overly large teeth said, "I can tell he's very powerful, but he can't control his Reiatsu very well, he couldn't even tell we were watchin' him, but if Urahara thinks he is worthy of becomin' a Vaizard, he probably is. We owe him one, after all. And it's not like we can let the kid rot like an ordinary Hollow, we should at least learn him how he can control his powers before it's too late." Shinji finished sighing.

"Yeah, we probably have ta help him, if Kisuke told ya he was Vaizard material. Do ya think we should tell the other now, or let them have a surprise? It's not often ya hear about untrained Vaizards runnin' loose"

"Nah, let's wait. I'd like ta see their faces when this fellow comes barging in cryin' for help. We'll just return to our base and tell the lot we just had tea at Kisuke's place." Shinji said with a big smile showing his oversized teeth.

The blond-haired girl called Hiyori merely scowled at Shinji. Did he really think they'd fall for that? He could be such a daft at times. She had a better plan to cover up their spying mission. She thought, when a wicked grin formed on her face, showing off her fang-like tooth, in the left corner of her mouth.

When they neared the barriers of their hideout, Shinji wanted to call out to Hachigen to let them in, but before he could even utter one word he caught a glimpse of Hiyori with her sandal in her hand and an unpleasant grin on her face.

Oh crap.

Before he could even do as much as turn around he felt a stinging pain on his right cheek and he was launched forward straight through 3 layers of the barrier protecting the hideout and the front door. Why does she always have to do that for no reason at all? And how can she have such insane strength with those tiny arms. Shinji didn't have much time to think about the mystery that was Hiyori, though as he skidded across the floor on his face and ended in a small heap on the floor, moaning, as he always did when Hiyori aimed her wrath at him.

The other people in the room barely looked up when they saw Shinji flying through the barrier. They were pretty much used to it by now. Hachigen sighed and got up to restore the barrier that had been destroyed, yet again. Sometimes he wondered just why he put up with them.

Lisa, who couldn't stand the bickering of Shinji and Hiyori anymore, got up while glaring at the two in question. She grabbed her manga's and went down to the basement. She had always found it relaxing to read and train downstairs on her own. She always did it when all the other Vaizards where making a ruckus like the hounds of hell where on their tails. She had wanted to know what Urahara Kisuke had told Shinji and Hiyori, they probably would come up with some lame excuse, so she decided to ask them another time and force the truth out. I should've spied on them after all, Lisa thought regretting staying at the hideout. She'd wanted to follow them when they left, she was curious as to what Urahara would want from them, but she had decided against it and stayed at home. Much to the surprise of Aikawa Love who knew her best and had thought she would let her curiosity get the best of her.

Not much to do for it now, though she thought wryly. And she grabbed her Zanpakuto in her left hand and her scabbard in her right hand and started her training, before she went to read her manga's.

As Lisa was practicing with her Zanpakuto resembling a nodachi, Ichigo was working on his Hand-to-Hand combat skills. After his fight with his friend Tatsuki Arisawa, he decided it was for the best if he learned how to fight properly with his bare hands. You never know when it could be useful and it certainly didn't hurt to be able to beat Tatsuki for once.

---|---

As Ichigo was walking towards Urahara's Shop together with his dad, he wondered, yet again, why Urahara wanted to see him with his dad. His dad seemed to be getting more serious. His goofy smile was nowhere to be found on his face this time, just like that very morning, before his sisters came down the stairs. For Isshin to get serious twice a day, was a very rare sight indeed.

While Isshin walked besides his son on their way to his old friend, Urahara Kisuke, he kept stealing glances at Ichigo. He couldn't determine what his son was thinking about him, but it was obvious he was deep in thought. And Isshin assumed it was about their meeting with Urahara this fine evening and to some extent also the conversation they'd had this morning.

"C'mon Ichigo! Cheer up, there's nothing to worry about with good old Kisuke" Isshin told his son with more confidence than he felt. He already had an idea what Kisuke would be discussing with them, he just hoped he was wrong.

Ichigo merely grunted, but his frown lessened to some extent, although it didn't fade. It was very rare to see him without his famous frown on his face. The only time he could be seen like that was when he was sleeping.

---|---

Urahara Kisuke watched as the two Kurosaki's entered his little shop, he could see that both of them didn't like to be here, afraid for what they might hear from him. Urahara knew they wouldn't like it at first, but after a while they should get used to it and even thank him. If everything went alright at least. He sighed as he led them to the table where they sat down and had some tea before beginning the meeting he dreaded to begin, even though he was the one who'd requested it.

"So, I guess we should get this over with now." Kisuke said without his sing-song voice, earning two similar looks of dread from the Kurosaki's. That didn't help him gathering courage at all. He sighed before he continued. "Ichigo do you remember what I told you, when you asked me about the Hougyoku?"

"Yeah I do, you told me about your time as a Captain in Soul Society, where you helped some friends of yours who were in advanced stages of Hollowfication."

Urahara nodded. "Yes, that's correct, Ichigo and you have with no doubt found some similarities with yourself and those friends of mine, have you not?"

"Yes, I did. When I was fighting Byakuya in Soul Society, I noticed a strange presence within me. It felt very similar to a Hollow. I've felt it ever since I came out of the Shattered Shaft where I regained my Shinigami powers, but when I was losing my battle with Byakuya, the presence within me stirred and I lost control of my body. It was very strong, but I managed to take control of my body, after a while."

Isshin looked at Urahara and received a nod, so it was true. Ichigo's inner Hollow had come to life after the Shattered Shaft exercise. "Ichigo was that the only strange thing you noticed?" He asked while he looked at his son intently, as if trying to see the Hollow inside him through his eyes.

"No it wasn't." Ichigo told his father, surprised he had asked the question and not Urahara. "After the fight I had with Abarai Renji, Hanatarou healed all my injuries. He said that I was lucky to be alive however, because I had a Hollow mask in my Shinigami robes. The mask had protected my vital organs from Renji's attacks."

Isshin and Urahara nodded at Ichigo, there was no doubt anymore. Ichigo was a Vaizard.

Ichigo who looked positively scared at the stares from his father and his teacher, he was getting very worried now. "What's with those faces?" He asked with a voice that was about one octave higher than his usual voice.

Urahara couldn't keep from laughing at the face the terrified boy had just shown him. "Yes, that's the Kurosaki face I remember, alright. Your dad used to give this face to me when he was afraid as well." Urahara said, chuckling. "Like father, like son, huh."

"We're not alike!" They both cried in unison with identical scowl on their faces, which caused Urahara to laugh even harder.

"Alright, alright" he said. "Anyway, Ichigo. When I escaped to the real world together with my friends, we found a way to control their inner Hollows. If you can't control them, they will keep growing stronger and stronger until you completely turn into a Hollow. You're showing the same symptoms, you are one of them. Your inner Hollow must be controlled before it controls you. I asked you to come here today to explain your situation to yourself and your dad, and to make a proposition."

"What kind of proposition?"

"I want you to let my friends, also known as Vaizards help you control your inner Hollow and train you for when Aizen strikes. I'm not sure what his exact plans are but in one year the Hougyoku fully awakens and he's bound to do something with it, but I intend to find out what he wants to do sooner, though."

Before Ichigo could process everything he had been told in his mind, he felt two huge forces of Reiatsu near the training grounds where Tatsuki trains every night. Are they Hollows? No the Reiatsu coming from the two were too big for Hollows This is much worse! Ichigo didn't have time to think however, Tatsuki was near those forces, he had to help her! Without saying a word to Urahara and his dad, he rammed the amulet that resembled a skull against his chest and dashed away grabbing the hilt of Zangetsu.

Urahara immediately sprang to action. "Isshin help your son, I'm gonna get Yoruichi and follow you towards those Arrancar. This is the big deal, he can't defeat them in his current state, yet!

Isshin nodded at his friends and ran after his son, after Urahara had kicked him out of his Gigai, with his walking stick.

---|---|---

_And there's the first chapter! _

_First of all: t__hank you all for reading it. I'm still very new at this, as this is my first Fanfic I've written so far. _

_I would__ also like to ask you to please review my story to help me improve my writing skills. Tell me what you like or dislike. If you have any comments, tips, suggestions or anything else about my first chapter, please don't hesitate to tell me. And don't be afraid to criticise my work, as long as it's constructive I appreciate all the reviews I get! _


	2. Chapter 2: Until we meet again

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Bleach or any of the characters

_First of all thanks everyone for the reviews!_

_And secondly I'll answer the question the reviewers had._

_**Bruuz: **__My story begins straight after Ichigo came back from Soul Society after he saved Rukia, so the Bounto Arc didn't happen at all._

_**DarkJason: **__I'm planning to put some romance in with Ichigo and Lisa. I've also never read a story with the two of them either so I'd like to try and make a good story for the two of them, I'm not letting them rush into anything though!_

**Lycodrake: **_As I told DarkJason, a Ichigo/Lisa pairing will happen further on in this story. and about your question considering Ichigo's Hollow. I kinda liked the lizard-like Hollow, but I might tweak it a bit so it comes off more like real lizard instead of a well-muscled man who appears to be stuffed into a lizard._

**Chapter 2:**** Until we meet again**

Tatsuki Arisawa was just finishing her evening run when she suddenly felt a very big pressure in the air. What could this be? It's a lot worse than earlier in the afternoon, when I was training together with Ichigo. He went straight 'home' afterwards, I'm going to try and catch Ichigo slashing up more monsters. He's always so careless while walking around in those black robes and that huge sword. It's almost like he thinks no one can see him she thought with a smile.

Tatsuki silently walked through the woods, she could see smoke reaching towards the sky through the thick trees on the right side of her path. Ichigo should be there soon to save the day, once again. Yes, it has been like that since he got back from his vacation, maybe even before.

She smirked at the thought. The orange-haired cry-baby she met all those years back was now fighting monsters with a huge sword. When it came to Hand-to-Hand combat she still had the upper hand though, becoming the second strongest girl in Japan in her age-class did count for something after all. She really wanted to have a talk with Ichigo, though. He seemed to know all about those monsters. Yes, she decided she would watch Ichigo beat the monsters who had just appeared and then walk home with him for a nice chat. His dad wouldn't mind if she came over. He was always very kind towards her, a bit goofy yes, but very kind.

She looked up to see where her feet had carried her when she'd been deep in thought. She noticed a deep crater in the ground with a small crowd of people gathered in front of it. They all stared inside it, looking for what had caused it. That was when she saw the two man walking out of the crater.

The smaller of the two was a slender guy, with short black hair. One of his bangs fell between his eyes, underneath what appeared to be a broken helmet. His skin was a bit greyish and he had a stoic facial expression. But the most intimidating aspect of the slightly muscular man were his eyes. He had big green eyes and two green teal lines descending from his eyes, making it look like he was crying, but that, of course seemed impossible. The big guy standing on the right hand-side of the man seemed to be the exact opposite of the impassive man standing there in a white jacket.

The big dark-skinned man was pretty much bald except for a thin black ponytail and bushy sideburns. He had small red markings underneath his eyes and he had what appeared to be a jawbone resting on his chin. He wore his jacket open, so everyone could see his well-muscled chest. It was quite an imposing sight.

Tatsuki was staring at the two men, they looked very dangerous to her and she got scared when she noticed that Ichigo wasn't there yet. Why didn't those people run away? Didn't they realise they were staring at two dangerous man, who could probably kill the lot of them in less than a few moments?

"What are you waiting for?" She yelled "Run!"

But it was already too late. The big man got annoyed by all the people who seemed to be staring at him, like he was some new archaeological discovery. He told his companion he needed some fresh air and took a deep breath. But he seemed to suck in more than just fresh air into his big mouth. As he sucked in the air, the people in front of him were collapsing on the spot and Tatsuki felt a stabbing pain in her chest. She wanted to run, away form these two men, away from danger, but before she could even move a few feet, she felt herself get weaker and weaker and just before she got claimed by the darkness, she though she heard someone scream. Did she hear her own name? Nah, it couldn't be. Those were the last words in Tatsuki's mind, before she hit the ground and her eyes rolled back in her head.

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Ichigo was willing himself to go faster and faster, as he dashed past the dojo into the forest. He could feel that his dad was chasing him. Did he want to stop Ichigo from protecting his friends? Or did he simply want to help him? The reiatsu patterns he had felt were certainly much stronger than any Hollow he had met so far. Even the Grand Fisher was nothing compared to this. Ichigo knew his dad was more than he seemed to be, but could he be strong enough to even match these big forces of reiatsu?

He didn't even think he would have an easy fight. He'd have to use his Bankai to even pose a threat to the enemies that where awaiting him on the other side of the thick forest. He hoped he was on time, no he couldn't afford to think about the alternative. She had to be safe!

Ichigo felt two familiar forces of reiatsu flare up behind him indicating that Urahara and Yoruichi were on their way, as well. That's good, Yoruichi could patch up Tatsuki if she was wounded. She seemed to be quite capable with healing, back in Soul Society.

He got distracted when he saw smoke rising up into the sky not far from where he was right now. He almost cried out in joy, he made it! His moments of euphoria didn't last long however. As Ichigo got closer he felt a few low spirit forces and one who seemed a bit higher (was it Tatsuki's?) in front of him. All the spirit forces suddenly fluctuated and vanished. As if they were candles who were blown out simultaneously. No! Tatsuki!

Ichigo ran forward, into the clearing with a huge crater in the ground. In front of the crater the ground was littered with corpses. Ichigo looked desperately for Tatsuki.

"Tatsuki!!" He screamed in rage.

"Ah, Ichigo. I'm glad you're here, saves us the trouble to search for you." Said a calm voice belonging to a slender grey-skinned man with a broken helm on top of his head.

But Ichigo ignored the man, he had just felt Tatsuki's reiatsu a little to his left. It was very small, but still there!

Yammy who got tired of waiting, charged forward to punch Ichigo while he was still distracted. Before he reached him however, his path was blocked by a Shinigami with a look of determination in his eyes. He kicked Yammy away from Ichigo and unsheathed his Zanpakuto. Isshin slowly walked over to Yammy and sliced off his left arm.

"Keep your hands off my son, Arrancar"

Yammy grabbed his Zanpakuto with his remaining arm and locked blades with Isshin, pushing him back before he kicked him square in the chest, slamming him into a nearby tree. Isshin got up coughing up a little blood. He sure had become a little rusty. I ought to train a bit more before playing with Arrancars he thought grimly.

Upon seeing his dad was alright Ichigo ran over to his friend, telling her to hold on until Yoruichi arrived.

The man called Ulquiorra sighed and raised two fingers at the girl next to Ichigo. A bright green light formed at the extended fingers of Ulquiorra. He gathered a small amount of reiatsu and released it before Ichigo could even react. The Cero fired by Ulquiorra hit Tatsuki causing her to fly away a few feet. Ichigo's eyes were wide with shock, he didn't dare to look at her, afraid at what he might see. But the smell told him what his eyes didn't want to see, he smelled her burned clothes and hair and her reiatsu had completely disappeared this time. He looked at Ulquiorra. Anger boiling in the pit of his stomach.

"Ah, I see I finally have your attention" Ulquiorra said, without displaying any kind of emotion.

"Who the hell are you?" A fuming Ichigo asked.

"Ulquiorra Cifer, Cuatro Espada. Aizen has sent me here to find you and determine your power and potential." The man said his face as impassive as ever.

Ichigo's eyes were ablaze, He sent you to check on my power, did he now? Ichigo thought and he pointed Zangetsu towards the man he wanted to kill, while the bandages of his sword wrapped around his arm. And he started focusing his reiatsu. "_Bankai!" _

Before Ichigo could slice that bastard to tiny pieces, he felt his inner Hollow stir. No! Not now, I need to think clear to beat him.

"_**There's no need for thinking Ichigo, you just have follow your instincts, let me take over. I can beat him!"**_

Ichigo grabbed his pounding head, while battling with his inner Hollow screaming he was stronger.

"_**Stronger? You?! Don't make me laugh, Ichigo. You couldn't beat Kuchiki Byakuya on your own and you certainly can't beat him alone. Let me take over. I can kill him. I can **__**avenge your friend Tatsuki."**_

Upon hearing her name Ichigo snapped back to reality and managed to push his Hollow away. He looked up at Ulquiorra only to find out he was gone. Ichigo was shaking with fury now. Where was he? Did he run, no he wouldn't do that. Not while checking my power and potential on Aizen's order's at least. "Come out you filthy Espada! I'm going to rip yo-.."

That was when he felt the cold steel of Ulquiorra's sword penetrate his back. He collapsed on the ground, blood gushing from his wound.

"Pathetic, even for a Shinigami." Ulquiorra said while grabbing the hilt of his Zanpakuto and violently extracted it from Ichigo's back making the cut even deeper.

Ulquiorra focused his reiatsu at the tip of his fingers and fired it to kill the boy. Then two people moved in front of the boy and protected him with a large oval shaped, red shield. Get him and Isshin out of here the man who made the shield ordered a women with purple hair. She nodded, grabbed the boy and sped away.

Ulquiorra who had no reason to fight this man used Sonido to get to his comrade, who was very confused as his opponent had just disappeared and made a Garganta. They walked through the black hole and went to Hueco Mundo, so they could report back to Aizen.

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Ulquiorra and a very battered Yammy entered the throne room and made their way to Aizen. all the Arrancar in the room fell silent when they saw the state Yammy was in and looked to Ulquiorra to find him apparently completely uninjured. Who was it that could hurt an Espada that badly, and how much stronger is Ulquiorra since he doesn't seem to have any injuries at all?

They didn't have much time to think about that though, as Aizen's voice rang out "Ah, Uilquiorra, Yammy. You have returned."

Ulquiorra and Yammy sank to a kneeling position. "Aizen-sama" They said in unison.

"What news do you have for me?" Aizen asked, while motioning them to stand up, looking directly at Ulquiorra.

"First off all the boy didn't seem much off a threat. Yammy who once again got impatien, charged straight at the boy, but was stopped by an unknown Shinigami, he sliced of Yammy's arm and cut him up pretty badly, before he got escorted to safety by a friend. While Yammy was fighting this Shinigami I managed to get the boy angry right away and he released his Bankai" Ulquiorra said, while idly watching to Aizen. "Then there occurred something rather odd. He charged at me, but he suddenly sank to his kneels and his reiatsu changed."

Aizen looked slightly surprised, but motioned for Ulquiorra to continue with his report. "His reiatsu seemed similar to a Hollow, but it wasn't the same" Ulquiorra explained. "He seemed to hear voices in his head, because he grabbed his head with both hands, and started screaming he was stronger. I managed to take him down without any effort whatsoever, but before I could kill him, two of his friends appeared and took him away."

"What did those two friends look like?"

"They guy was wearing wooden sandals, a bucket hat and had messy blonde hair. I didn't get a good look at his face though, as it was shadowed by his hat. The women at his side was dark-skinned. She had long purple hair, and golden eyes and was wearing an orange over shirt and black wrist-guards."

Aizen smiled as he recognized the descriptions. Urahara Kisuke and Yoruichi Shihouin. "Thank you Ulquiorra, this is very valuable information, you may go now."

Aizen walked towards the only other Shinigami in Las Noches. "Gin, Kaname, it seems our old friends are still running loose protecting and helping Shinigami's who've been Hollowfied." Aizen said, thinking back at the missing soul case all those years ago.

"Do you want me to kill them Aizen-sama?" Gin asked coolly, as if he was discussing the weather. His eternal grin never leaving his face.

"Oh, no, please not, Gin. Let's see if they can help this Kurosaki boy. If he manages to control his inner Hollow we might have some use for him in the future."

"As you wish, Aizen-sama." Gin said with a grin.

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Isshin was taking in his surroundings. Where am I? He saw a bright blue sky and was lying in a rocky landscape. Isshin looked around and then he noticed the ladder which seemed to be coming from the sky. Ah, Urahara's basement.

Just as he was wondering why and how he got here Yoruichi descended from the ladder and walked over to him sporting a grim expression on her face.

"How are you Isshin?" She asked.

"I'm alright, what happened?"

"What do you remember from this evening Isshin?" Yoruichi asked, eyeing her old friend a little worried.

"Hmm let's see, I was walking with Ichigo towards Urahara. He had asked us to come to talk. He wanted to talk about Ichigo. He needed to know for certain if he had the Vaizard symptoms. Which he had of course. It's always the same with that boy. You can't even relax for five minutes and he brings you trouble." Isshin said smiling. "At Urahara's we had some tea and Ichigo explained the symptoms he had experienced while fighting in Soul Society."

"What happened next?"

"Urahara was just about to explain him everything about the Vaizard when those two Arrancar's appeared. Ichigo was gone in a blink of an eye. Urahara went out to get you and told me he'd follow as soon as possible. So after he kicked me out of my Gigai I went after Ichigo, but damn that boy is fast."

Yoruichi smiled, she had learned him Shunpo when he was mastering his Bankai. It was true he was fast, but he wasn't near as fast as he should be. He'd have to increase his speed if he ever wanted to fight an Espada on equal footing. "So you followed Ichigo straight away?"

"Yeah, when I finally caught up with him that big guy was about crack his skull. I don't think Ichigo even saw him, he was only looking at all the corpses on the ground, it looked like he was searching for someone." Isshin sighed, before continuing his story. "I kicked that guy away from Ichigo. One hell of a heavy bastard he was. I sliced off his arm, which made him really mad and he slammed right into a tree. We fought for a bit, but I passed out at some point, though. I can't really remember what happened near the end of the fight. I do remember Ichigo's reiatsu during our fight, though. I couldn't get away to help him, but the reiatsu felt very similar to a Hollow, so I'm guessing his inner Hollow was trying to take him over again."

"Yeah the two of you beat each other up pretty good. You have to know though, he was not a normal Arrancar, Isshin. He was one of the Espada. The top of Aizen's army." Yoruichi sighed and had a sad expression on her face, which worried Isshin a great deal, where was Ichigo? Did his inner Hollow really take him over?

"When we found the two of you we saved your son from a certain death. It seems he managed to suppress his inner Hollow just in time, but when we found him he was bleeding pretty badly and the other Espada was about to finish him off with a Cero. Urahara protected him with his Blood Mist Shield. I took the two of you here straight away. Healing you up was not very hard, luckily. Ichigo was another story though, some of his vital organs were hit by the Espada. My healing skills aren't good enough for that, so we brought him to Hachigen, he's one of the Vaizards and his healing skills are very good. He couldn't say if Ichigo was going make it or not, but I have faith in him. There hasn't been any injury he couldn't heal." She finished with a smile.

Isshin averted his eyes from her and gave her a tiny nod. "I see."

Urahara choose that moment to descend the ladder into his basement. He saw Yoruichi standing over Isshin trying to comfort him a bit. So she told him already. I'd better go over and tell him the last bit of bad news then, he thought, moving towards Isshin. Bringing bad news wasn't something Urahara wanted to right now, but it would be worse if he saved it for later.

Isshin looked up at him as he approached the two of them when he saw the look on his face he groaned inwardly. He knew that look, it could only mean bad news. "Spit it out, Urahara. What happened?"

Urahara sighed, that man knew him too good. "Sharp as ever aren't you Isshin? Well I guess I should get this over with. I went over to check the site where the two Espada members appeared. I wanted to search for any traces of reiatsu to find out more about them and their powers. When I checked the spot where we found your son I saw a girl lying nearby. She was covered in burn marks, by the looks of it she was killed by a Cero. I went to check who it was and sadly enough I found a familiar face. Tatsukia Arisawa has been killed, Isshin.

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Kurosaki Isshin was lying in his bed, thinking about the events of that night.

His only son was almost bleeding to death at this very moment. One of his best friends was already dead. And he could do nothing about it. If only he could've been stronger. If he'd killed the big Espada right away it wouldn't have ended this way. Isshin punched his pillow in frustration. All he could do now was wait. What should he tell Karin and Yuzu? He didn't dare to think about the possibility he had to tell them about the death of their big brother. Yuzu would be devastated and Karin would try to act tough in an attempt to take over the role of Ichigo.

Isshin got up and went downstairs, unable to get any sleep. He's have to be strong for Yuzu and Karin. Ichigo would be alright, he had to be.

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Lisa was sitting on a couch in the old building that had been their hideout provided to them by Urahara some 100 years ago. They only got out of the building when the man who had saved them requested a meeting, or to buy some food when their supplies were running low. It wasn't often they had contact with normal humans and therefore Lisa had been very surprised when Urahara barged in together with Yoruichi, carrying a boy with orange hair. He seemed to be severely injured. He was very pale and his clothes where completely covered in blood.

Hiyori didn't like it one bit. No one was surprised when they saw her jump up from her chair when she started shouting at Urahara.

"What the hell d'ya think yer doin'? We're friggin' Vaizards not medics in a hospital! Is he even alive his reiatsu is-.."

Her eyes had widened when she recognised his reiatsu pattern and his trademark orange hair. She stopped her shouting at once grabbed the little table, turned it upside down to clear all the remains of their dinner and gave it to Urahara and Yoruichi so they could use as a stretcher to lay him down. Then she ran to the basement screaming for Hachigen to come up. He came up straight away, not wanting to test her temper and followed her as she ran over to Urahara and Yoruichi so they could tell him what had happened and what was wrong with the boy.

This all happened within less than 30 seconds. All the Vaizards except Hachigen and Shinji had been relaxing on the couch until Urahara came in. They were staring at Hiyori with disbelief in their eyes. Were they dreaming or did she just express another emotion than anger? They'd known her for a long time, but it had been a long time since they saw her expressing any kind of emotion besides anger. The last time was when Urahara had brought them to the real world and spend 5 days and nights on end trying to completely reverse the Hollowfication. He didn't succeed in reversing the effect completely, but at least they were able to control their inner Hollow now. Hiyori had been truly happy when she saw her captain doing all that work for them. She had treated him very badly when he first entered the 12th squad but he still tried very hard to help her.

The only Vaizard not looking at Hiyori was Lisa. She was intently watching the boy that had just been brought in by Urahara. Hiyori had just been worried about some human boy? That was extremely rare. The Vaizards only showed compassion to their fellow Vaizards and the ones who had saved them from a fate worse than death. Then why were they helping a human? And Hiyori from all people seemed to be _worried_. No, this was no ordinary boy. She couldn't find out what was different with him now, though. He was very close to death, she could barely feel his reiatsu. She knew Hiyori had seen him at least once. She wouldn't be helping a human boy without having seen him once at least, maybe he had a connection to the meeting Hiyori and Shinji had with Urahara this morning?

Nothing she could do about it now, though. Lisa thought while picking up her manga as Hachigen rushed the orange-haired boy to another room in an attempt to save his life. Lisa couldn't help but notice, though that Urahara and Yoruichi gave Hiyori a small nod before they left and the girl went to the basement to find Shinji.

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Tatsuki opened her eyes and took in her surroundings. She noticed she was sitting on the training grounds next to the dojo. A few men walk past her without even looking at her. Hello to you too she thought grimly. It's like they didn't even see me. And then to think I train with them every week… Then the events of the previous evening came crashing back to her. Ichigo, those two men. They seemed very dangerous and what exactly did that big bloke do to me and all those men in front of him? They all collapsed at the same time, could it be that she died together with those men? It would certainly explain why people walked past her like she didn't exist. Tatsuki also vaguely remember someone calling her name before her world went black. She thought it was Ichigo, but she couldn't tell, her mind was such a blur right now.

I have to find Ichigo now! He has to tell me a lot of things, nothing makes sense! And he also has to tell me if I'm alive or dead. She couldn't help but smile envisioning the awkward conversation they would have.

She was just thinking where she could find Ichigo, when she saw a chain hanging from her chest. What the hell is this?

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Zennosuke Kurumadani was walking around Karakura Town. He had been appointed here a few weeks earlier to replace Kuchiki Rukia. Nothing much had happened in the time he was here. He had helped a few pluses find their way to Soul Society and he had destroyed a few Hollows as well. But apart from that nothing had happened. Not until a few days back at least. A few days ago four humans had arrived in town with reiatsu patterns that were way too big for mere humans. One of the reiatsu patterns was so big it could easily have belonged to a captain.

Ever since they had arrived in town, more Hollows seemed to be appearing. And then there was last night. Who could possibly have such a huge reiatsu. Zennosuke had been afraid so he hadn't dared to come closer, but luckily they went away pretty soon.

He figured they hadn't come by just to see the forest, though. So Zennosuke was looking around the town all day now looking for some pluses should they be there. He was just walking towards the direction where he had felt the reiatsu coming from last night when he saw a plus soul near a dojo.

He walked to the girl standing there and unsheathed his sword so he could guide her to Soul Society. The girl had other plans though, she suddenly turned around and landed a kick in his stomach. Causing him to gasp for air as he fell backwards.

"What do you want from me?" The girl yelled.

"I'm a Shinigami, I'm here to guide pluses to Soul Society." He said standing back up.

"I'm not going anywhere! And why do you need a sword to 'guide' me to that place?"

"Shinigami's guide plus soul to Soul Society by pressing the hilt of our sword against the soul's forehead."

"Well, you can stick that sword of yours up your arse, I need to find Ichigo he has to-…"

But she didn't get further than that, because the Shinigami with the afro hairstyle had already pressed the hilt of his sword against her head and she was on her way to Soul Society.

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_And there's the second chapter! I hope you like__d it. Please review my story and tell me what you think!_


	3. Chapter 3: Rehabiliation

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Bleach or any of the characters.

_**Lycodrake: **__I agree with you on Hachigen's mask, it's really bad to be honest. As for the rest I've included two masks in this chapter and I'll probably do the rest in the near future!_

_**Bruuz: **__I already got a few ideas on Isshin's Shikai and possibly also his Bankai, you'll just have to wait and see! _

_Also, I didn't involve Inoue and Chad with the Arrancar attack because I didn't want to let Aizen notice Inoue's powers. And personally I thought they were only in the way in canon so Ithought it would be best to leave them out of the first Arrancar attack._

_**DarkJason: **__My plans for Tatsuki will soon be set into motion I already got pretty much in mind what I want to do with her, but should you have some suggestions, I'm always willing to look atthose. I might just do something with it. You'll find out a bit about Ichigo's friends in the real world this chapter. And for Grimmjow, he'll make an appearance soon enough, that's all I'm going to say._

**Chapter 3: ****Rehabiliation **

It was very late in the evening when Lisa silently crept out of her bed and threw her clothes on. She couldn't help but think about the strange boy that had been brought to their hideout just two days ago. She wanted to know who he was, why he had been injured. And why he hadn't been brought to a normal hospital. She had overheard Hiyori talking to Shinji the night the orange-haired boy had been brought in. They talked about the boy and his father. They had both been defeated by the two Espada that were in town that day. His father wasn't badly injured so he had gone home after Yoruichi had treated his wounds.

If they boy's father had fought an Espada and got off without too many injuries he wouldn't be too hard to find. She'd just check some places with high reiatsu patterns. With this in mind Lisa crept outside and concentrated on all the reiatsu patterns nearby. She only found a few that were higher than usual so she sped through Karakura Town to see if she could find his father.

Lisa found the man in question relatively quick. She was surprised to see him still awake, but then again, she didn't think she would be able if her son was severely injured and still fighting for his life.

The man noticed her standing outside his house rather quickly and immediately ran outside to see who was there.

"Are you a Vaizard?" He asked the women in front of him in surprise.

"Yes, I am. How could you tell?"

"You got the same Hollow-like aura as my son. I assume Urahara has brought him to you?"

"Yeah he brought him to us, do you mind if I come in? I wanted to ask you a few things about him."

"Not at all, please come in." He said while walking her inside. He immediately attacked her with questions concerning his son. "How is he? Will he live? Has he been awake yet?"

"I don't have all the details, but he is still in a critical condition. Hachigen is still busy healing his wounds, he hasn't slept for more than two hours since your son was brought in. He thinks your son will make it, but it will take some time before he wakes up." Lisa said.

Isshin sighed. He was going to be alright! He would tell his daughters the news first thing in the morning when they woke up. He then remembered the reason the women visited him. "You wanted to know about my son right?"

"Yes, I'm sorry this might not be the best time to ask things about your son. But I've been dying to know who he exactly is and how he got his powers. As far as I know there have never been humans with enough spiritual power to become a Shinigami. And your son even fought with an Espada. And somehow he also awakened his inner Hollow. Could you tell me something about that?" Lisa asked

Isshin smiled at the women. "Yes I would like to talk about my son. It has been some time since I was able to brag about his powers to someone."

"It all began when he lost his borrowed Shinigami powers and went to Urahara to regain them so he could save his closet girl who had been taken to Soul Society."

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Meanwhile in Soul Society a very tired Mayuri Kurotsuchi was sitting behind his desk taking a well-deserved break. He had been working almost nonstop together with his squad on Yamamoto's orders. Ever since Aizen had left together with Ichimaru Gin and Kaname Tousen the 12th squad had been ordered to research everything that might connect to Aizen and his plans with the Hougyoku. Mayuri leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes, trying to get a few hours of sleep in before continuing with his research.

They had only found two Espada level Arrancar in the real world thus far. They both had appeared in Karakura Town two days ago. It was the town of the ryoka that had infiltrated Sereitei. There had to be some connection with Aizen and the ryoka Mayuri thought. What was it that Aizen wanted from them? It probably was Ichigo he was after. That boy was the centre of all trouble.

Was it just the boy that he needed in Karakura Town, or was he after something bigger?

Mayuri shifted in his chair an idea forming in his head, all the drowsiness forgotten. Who could he set on the task though? His entire squad was already busy going through everything at the 12th squad's Research and Development Institute. Suddenly, an inspiration struck him and Mayuri got up and told his Vice-captain that he'd be back in a bit.

Mayuri stepped outside in the cold night and took a deep breath. He had been locked inside together with his whole squad for quite some time now. He only got out when he was needed at a meeting. He figured he should let his squad outside too sometime. Some fresh air might do them good he thought, while walking to the quarters of Shunsui.

When he approached Shunsui's barracks he could already hear him bickering with Nanao. It's always the same with those two Mayuri sighed.

"Shunsui Kyoraku, have you got a moment?" He called.

The doors of the Captain's quarters slid open revealing a surprised Shunsui.

"Why, of course Mayuri. What brings you here on this lovely night?" Shunsui said brightly.

"I wanted to ask you and your friend, Ukitake Jushiro, for help."

"Oh? What do you need us for, Mayuri?"

"I was just thinking about that Espada attack on Karakura Town and couldn't help but notice that all the ryoka who infiltrated Sereitei lived there. Aizen could've sent them there to merely see the strength of the ryoka and determining if they might pose any real threat to him in the future, but what if there was another reason he sent his Espada to that town?"

"Why would he possibly go to that town other than look at the ryoka who have shown they are quite capable of handling themselves in fights? Especially that orange-haired kid."

"I thought of another reason he might have had. Didn't you never think it was odd that _all_ the ryoka came from the same town? They are all human and it's especially rare for humans to even be able to see us. But all those ryoka have shown they have high spiritual powers. It seems that there are many people in Karakura Town that have high spiritual powers. Do you think there is a possibility Aizen wants to do something with the town itself instead of only the ryoka?"

"The town itself? I don't know Mayuri, I've never heard of a town that could be used to go to the true heaven as Aizen called it."

"Me neither, but I'd like to be certain. Is there any way you and Ukitake Jushiro could go the to library and search for any way a town can be used to create something, a weapon maybe?"

"I think we can do that, I'll ask Ukitake. But it's a big library you know."

"Yes, that's true, but it's highly possible that Aizen himself researched it in the library over the past 100 years. So if you can find traces of his reiatsu somewhere in the library that's you best bet. I got reiatsu tracers, I'll set them to Aizen's reiatsu and bring them to you tomorrow."

"Okay, I'll tell Ukitake right away and go to the library. I'll let you know if we find anything interesting."

"Thank you, I'll be waiting at the Research and Development Institute should you find something."

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Inoue was walking towards the Urahara Shop thinking about the events of the morning. Inoue was making breakfast when she heard someone knocking on her door. When she opened the door she was surprised to see Ururu standing in the doorway. She looked up at Inoue and told her Urahara wanted to see her this afternoon. She had told the little girl that she would come and invited her in to eat breakfast with her. Ururu's eyes widened at this and she told the older girl Tessai needed help with cleaning. And she set off in a run, her pigtails trailing behind her. Inoue merely shrugged when she saw the little girl's retreating back and closed the door.

When Inoue turned around the corner she saw Chad. She ran to catch up to him and walk beside him.

"Ohayo Sado-kun!" Inoue said with a brilliant smile.

Chad only nodded in response as they walked towards Urahara together.

"Has Urahara asked you to come as well?"

"Yes, he did."

"Do you have any idea why he wanted to see us?"

"Not really."

Inoue sighed, knowing that she wouldn't get anything else out of him. And they resumed their walk to Urahara in silence.

She wondered if they were the only ones coming to Urahara this afternoon. It would be odd if Kurosaki-kun wasn't there. Yes he'd be there as well. Ishida Uryuu might be there too if it was important. He lost his Quinchy powers when he fought Mayuri Kurotsuchi, so there wasn't much he could do at the moment, but there had to be a way to regain his powers, she was sure of that. He wouldn't rest before he had them back, anyway.

After walking in silence for ten more minutes, they arrived at the Urahara Shop. Jinta opened the door and went to get Urahara to tell him that his guests had arrived. They heard a grunt from a nearby room and two minutes later Urahara came out and joined them at the table. Inoue was eyeing him suspiciously. His usual smile was gone and he had a sad expression on his face. She wasn't going to like the news he was going to tell them.

They sat in silence until Ishida came in. Urahara wasn't expecting anyone else so he began to tell them the bad news of Ichigo and Tatsuki.

"So, you're probably wondering why-.."

"Where's Kurosaki-kun?" Inoue interrupted him a bit louder than she intended.

Urahara told her to be quit breathed heavily and began the tale of the Arrancar that had attacked Karakura Town the night before. He told them the two Kurosaki's where at his house when they suddenly felt two big sources of reiatsu. Ichigo had gone straight after them. Urahara who knew these guys were forces to be reckoned with went to get Yoruichi and sent Isshin after his son. He told Ichigo's friends how he had found Yoruichi and they sped towards the fight, hoping they were still on time.

"When we got there we found Ichigo on the ground bleeding heavily. There was a guy with a broken Hollow mask standing next to him charging a Cero."

Inoue gasped at this "What happened? Is he dead?" She asked in shock.

"He is not dead Inoue, I saved him from the Cero and ordered Yoruichi to bring him and his dad to safety. Ichigo is being treated as we speak by the Vaizards. His life is still in danger, but I have faith in the Vaizard treating him, he's very experienced with healing and he will do everything he can to save him."

They all sighed with relief at the same time. "What happened to those two guys, did you kill them?" Ishida asked, speaking for the first time.

"When Ichigo and his dad were escorted to safety they didn't try to go after him as I had expected they would. Instead they made a Garganta and went to Hueco Mundo. Probably to report back to Aizen and the other Captains. There is also something else you should now." Urahara said grimly. "After I brought Ichigo to the Vaizards I went back to where I found Ichigo. I wanted to look at any reiatsu traces they might've left behind."

"I got distracted however as I saw they had killed a bunch of other people before Ichigo got there. One of the bodies in particular grabbed my attention. This was the only one that had burns all over her body, it looked like she had been killed by a Cero."

"Who was?" Inoue, Ishida and Chad yelled

"Tatsuki Arisawa"

"No!" Inoue cried at hearing about the death of her best friend. "I don't believe you!" She sobbed as she ran away, tears stinging in her eyes.

Chad and Ishida looked sadly at their friend who had just heard her best friend had been murdered. They went out to follow her, after they said their goodbyes to Urahara. Promising they'd look after her.

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Lisa was sitting in the basement of the Vaizard hideout, looking at Kensei and Shinji. Ever since the orange-haired boy had been brought in they had started training heavily again. Lisa chuckled, it was obvious they wanted to grow stronger fast before the boy, Kurosaki Ichigo would be able to get up and fight again. Lisa had been told about his strength from Isshin, she didn't think she needed to get some extra training before they started working with the boy, though. She was very confident in her skills. Shunsui trained me after all and despite his laziness he's still one of the most powerful Captains in Soul Society. Regular training was more than enough to be able to beat the boy she figured, but deep inside she hoped she was wrong, she liked a challenge and if the kid proved to be really strong she could launch full-scale attacks on him without holding back.

They'd had a meeting considering the boy just the day before. She'd acted like she was deeply interested, but she'd heard everything and more from his dad already. Shinji explained how Ichigo's inner Hollow had in the Shattered Shaft and how his inner Hollow had almost got him killed when the two Espada's showed up. If not for Hachigen the boy would've been dead by now. Hachigen had been healing the boy three days and nights on end without much of a break in between, he only caught a few hours of sleep now and then when he thought the boy was out of danger. Ichigo's condition at the moment was stable but it would still be a while before he could get up, though. He still hadn't woken up, but Hachigen thought he probably would in the next few days.

Lisa looked up when the battle between Shinji and Kensei was getting more violent by the second. Then Shinji and Kensei nodded at each other and a white substance was forming on top of their heads.

They are really going to the limit Lisa thought looking at the mask that had formed on top of Shinji's head. The mask looked a bit too big for Shinji and it strongly resembled a pharaoh mask. His eyes turned black and his irises went from light brown to gold. Kensei's mask on the other hand resembled a hockey faceguard with six slits as eye holes, although he only had two eyes. His mask was clasped together behind his head with three extensions on either side of the mask. She liked how all the masks seemed to resemble their personalities. What would Ichigo's mask look like?

Before she could really think about it Shinji and Kensei launched into the offensive. Kensei who preferred to fight with his fists while he had his Vaizard mask on discarded his Zanpakuto and charged at his fellow Vaizard who tried to block his fist with his own Zanpakuto. He couldn't match Kensei's superhuman strength though and he crashed into the ground. Kensei continued his attack by firing four Tachikaze's simultaneously. Shinji was expecting that and was already charging his crimson Cero to counter the Kidou blasts, burning Kensei's clothes in the process.

Kensei is lucky Shinji held back on his Cero. Lisa thought. I haven't seen anyone who was still able to stand up after receiving the full blast.

Lisa turned away from the fight and walked over to Hachigen when Shinji charged his second Cero. She saw Hachigen sitting in the corner talking with Hiyori about Ichigo's condition. Hachigen looked very tired, but that was to be expected, he'd been working almost nonstop for the last few days.

"Hey Hachigen, how are you?"

"Hey Lisa-chan, I'm fine. Better than the poor lad upstairs, anyway."

"Will he be able to walk around anytime soon? Or do you intend to glue him to his bed for the next two months?" Lisa asked, she was eager to test the boy's strength.

"If it's up to me he will be in his bed for at least three weeks" Hachigen said chuckling "But from what I've heard about the boy from Urahara I think he'll be up and training the moment he wakes up."

Lisa laughed at this

"You know, that boy is very lucky to be still breathing." Hachigen continued "If not for the insane amount of stamina and endurance he would've died before he even got here. I think he'll turn out to be a very good Vaizard. He certainly has potential to become a good fighter. You never know, he might just be what we need to counter Aizen's plans whatever it is he wants to do with his army of Arrancar and Espada."

"I hope so, I want to see that bastard kissing my feet." Lisa replied with a harsh look in her eyes.

---|---

"Tell me Ukitake. Why did I agree with Mayuri to help him out? He at least gets to see something in his lab. All we've been doing this week is looking at old books trying to sniff out Aizen's reiatsu, which might not even be here in the first place." Shunsui asked his best friend. Ever since Mayuri had visited him asking for help on his research, he had been holed up here with Ukitake, searching floor after floor for Aizen's reiatsu. If this all was for nothing he would plan revenge on Mayuri for setting him up in this place loaded with dusty old tomes.

"You're the one who got us into this mess, I should be complaining, not you" Ukitake replied. But he couldn't help and smirk at Shunsui. He could be so lazy at times.

"Yeah, yeah rub it in, Ukitake." Shunsui said grinning slightly. "I'll search the second floor, call me if you find something."

"Sure, Shunsui" Ukitake said, while waving the device that Mayuri gave the both of them over a new set of books. Even with this reiatsu tracer set to Aizen's reiatsu it takes ages. They had been searching for a few days now and they still hadn't had any luck. Suddenly, his device reacted on one of the books. It had traces of Aizen's reiatsu all over it. He has touched this book a lot, and the signal is still very strong. That means he only finished his research just before he left. Ukitake immediately called for Shunsui to come back.

"What is it Ukitake, did you find something?" Shunsui asked. He hoped his friend had found what they'd been looking for so he could finally get out of here.

"Yeah I found a book with Aizen's reiatsu. This book is very old, so be careful with it." Ukitake said eyeing Shunsui who had eagerly grabbed the book and was now intently studying it.

"My, my. This book is even older than Yama-jii. I'll go to Mayuri and tell him of our discovery. I think this is what we've been looking for." Shunsui exclaimed before running off.

He stepped out of the library into the open air and took a deep breath. Ah, it's good to be outside again. I don't envy Mayuri, he's been locked up inside that Research and Development Institute ever since Aizen went to Hueco Mundo. I'd have gone bonkers by now if I was in his shoes. No time to feel sorry for our mad researcher, though. I need to find him and bring him to Ukitake.

Ten minutes later Nemu was walking him to Mayuri, who was in a heated discussion with one of his co-researchers. "Oi, Mayuri. Stop the bickering. Ukitake found a book with Aizen's reiatsu all over it."

"Oh? What kind of book was it?"

"I've got no clue to be honest, but the book is even older than Yama-jii so we think it's the real deal."

"Alright, you go ahead. I'll meet the two of you in a few minutes. First I need to deal with him." Mayuri said with an evil glint in his eyes as he looked at the co-worker he'd just been talking to. When he saw Mayuri look at him he cringed away in fear and started apologising for all his wrongdoings.

Shunsui smiled as he walked away. This certainly brought back memories. When Lisa was still in Soul Society we used to do this all the time. But it was mostly me who got the angry look and the beating, though. Nanao also does it to some extent, but she can't compare to good old Lisa. I wonder how she's doing now, he thought with a sad smile. I don't even know where in the real world she went.

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Lisa meanwhile was sneezing as she watched Shinji and Kensei lying on their backs panting. Damnit, that old geezer is thinking about me again. It better be decent thoughts or I'll kick his ass so hard he can't walk for a week. She got up to get a few manga's as Kensei and Shinji were done fighting now, anyway. When she walked past them neither of them moved, both of their masks lay beside their heads in tiny pieces. They had been fighting for so long the masks had shattered from overexertion.

"Oh, Lisa-chan. Could you do me a favour and check if Ichigo is awake yet? I doubt it, but it doesn't hurt to check." Hachigen asked when he noticed that Lisa was going upstairs.

"Sure, Hachigen. I bet his family is aching to see him awake, so the sooner they get the chance to see him the better." She replied. Yeah his sisters would certainly love to see him. They were very fond of their big brother. Karin denied to show this, of course. But she really loved her brother. According to Isshin at least.

When Lisa got up the stairs she went to check on Ichigo. She was surprised to see him stir as she poked her head inside to see if he had awoken yet. When she walked inside his eyes fluttered open and he looked around confused, not recognising the room he was lying in.

"Don't worry, you're safe now." She said. Ichigo hadn't seen her yet and his head turned her way so fast she could've sworn she heard something in his neck crack.

"Who're you? What do you want from me?" Ichigo asked fearfully.

Lisa chuckled slightly when she saw the scared boy tried to get up. "Not to worry, Ichigo. I mean you no harm. I'm a Vaizard. Urahara brought you here so you could be healed. You almost died from that attack. Now, let me help you sit up and I'll get you something to drink."

Ichigo who had been slightly reassured when she mentioned she was a Vaizard still eyed her warily as she helped him drink some water.

"Go back to sleep now Ichigo, I'll let someone get your family here. They'll want to see you."

She helped Ichigo lie down again and went back to the basement to tell Hachigen that Ichigo had finally woken up.

"Ah that's good news Lisa-chan. Could you go and tell his family? I think he should stay with them while he fully recovers, so he can come back here ready for his training after spending some time with them. I believe you already know where they live am I right?" Hachigen added with a chuckle.

"Wha-.. how do you?" She said in surprise.

"Oh, c'mon Lisa how long have we known you know? I knew from the moment Urahara brought him in you would try to find out as much as possible about him right away. You're too curious for your own good, Lisa."

She merely gave him an ugly look, while telling him the same thing she had told her old Captain when he caught her spying on the Captain meeting all those years ago. "I can't help it! I'm curious, it's human nature, get over it."

"Alright, alright. Now go tell his family the happy news."

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Half an hour later Lisa had returned together with the Kurosaki's. They had immediately jumped up when she told them the news that Ichigo had awoken and they gladly joined her to the hideout to see him. Yuzu and Karin were now squeezing the life out off him, but he didn't seem to mind at all. He was smiling as he let his little sisters hug him. Isshin was looking at this little reunion with a fatherly smile on his face.

"You're quite the happy family aren't you?" Lisa said. "I doubt anyone could wipe that smile off his face right now, he really likes his sisters."

"Wanna bet?" Isshin asked her grinning widely

"What do you mea-.."

Lisa didn't get further than that. Isshin walked over to his son and punched him in his face. "Ha! You let your guard down, do you call yourself a Kurosaki?"

"What the hell are you doing? I almost bled to death I can't even stand up by myself yet! And you start punching me out of nowhere." Ichigo roared angrily. He then saw his dad grinning at him and harrumphed. "I'll get you for that you old fart, just wait until I'm fully recovered again" Ichigo said finally with a scowl on his face. But everyone noticed he had a small smile playing on his lips.

"Now let's relieve these Vaizards from you. Let's go home."

Lisa watched as the Kurosaki's went home and chuckled. They really were one of a kind.

---|---

Back in Soul Society the Captains were having an important meeting. Mayuri had come to Yamamoto together with Shunsui and Ukitake this afternoon. They had told him about a certain book they had found in the library. Yamamoto had visibly paled when he saw them approaching with a book he had deemed lost. And he finally understood what Aizen's plans were in order to go to the true heaven. After a small discussion with the captains who had brought it to him he requested a meeting right away.

"The most of you are probably wondering why I've called for this meeting" Yamamoto began. "Ever since Aizen betrayed Sould Society the 12th squad has been researching what plans he might have on my orders. They went over everything in Soul Society and with the help of Ukitake and Shunsui they were finally able to find an important book Aizen probably had it in his possession before he left. This is most likely the oldest book in Soul Society at the moment."

"Aizen Sousuke wants to go to the true heaven with the King's Key" Yamamoto stated simply. All the Captains gasped when they heard that. How was that possible? The King's Key location was supposed to be given to the Captain Commander verbally when he succeeded the previous Captain Commander. There was nothing written about it's location. At least that's what they'd been told in the Academy when they were training to become Shinigami.

Soifon was the first to speak up. "Excuse me Yamamoto, but I thought there wasn't any book explaining the location of the King's Key."

"That's correct Soifon, But this book doesn't explain the location of the Key. It tells us how the Key was made. To create the King's Key Aizen needs one square mile of enriched spiritual land. We have researched all the possibilities and the only place where Aizen can find that is Karakura Town. We will soon be making preparations to protect Karakura Town. It is of utmost importance that Aizen doesn't get his hands on the King's Key." Yamamoto looked at everyone to see if they had understood everything he had just told them. "Everyone but Soifon may leave now. I've got a special mission for you." He said looking at the person in question.

When everyone had left he walked a surprised and slightly unnerved Soifon to his quarters where they could talk unhindered. "No need for that face Soifon. I merely want to ask you if you could give some instructions to an old friend of us."

"Who might that be?" She asked, glad that she had been chosen for such an important task.

"Urahara Kisuke"

---|---|---

_And chapter three is done! I've been working on it all night, so I hope you enjoyed it. _

_Please R&R!_


	4. Chapter 4: And the training begins!

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Bleach or any of the characters.

_**Lycodrake: **__I'm definitely thinking about changing Ichigo's Hollow form a bit, you'll get to see it in one of the next few chapters!_

_And yes, I certainly did notice that they have similar swords, I have some plans for that when Ichigo's starts training with the Vaizards, and I'm planning too give Ichigo a rival amongst the Espada as well, I think it's very challenging to have one and our Ichigo would like that! It might be Grimmjow again, just like canon, but who knows, it could turn out to be someone else entirely as well!_

_**Grinja: **__Yeah, I've portrayed Mayuri a little bit nicer in my previous chapter, but that's mostly for the fact that he tries to get Shunsui and Ukitake do all the dirty work for him in the library. I mean, who would want to read those dusty tomes days on end? _

_**DarkJason: **__It's funny to see that your idea with Tatsuki is quite similar to mine. You'll find out soon enough, what exactly I'm going to do with her. And as for her Zanpakuto, I've got the design planned out already, still working on the name, though. So if you got any ideas, feel free to share!_

_**MKTerra:**__ I'm glad you like the unusual pairing! I've never read a fanfic with this pairing that lasted longer than one chapter, so I decided to make one myself and see if more people liked those two together._

_**Bruuz: **__Yeah, I certainly have plans for Tatsuki! I really like her character, so expect to read about her very soon. And about the quick updating, It can be quite taxing sometimes yes and I don't doubt you know it as well, but it's very fun to write and I know how I hated to wait for chapter updates for over a week, so I just wanted to try and update faster than that!_

**Chapter 4:**** The training begins!**

"Urahara Kisuke?" Soifon asked amazed. She hadn't seen the man since he had fled Soul Society and went to live in the Real World. The man had been a real mystery when he was in Soul Society all those years ago. At first, when she heard from Yoruichi that he would be promoted to Captain she couldn't believe it. She had been adamant to prove that he wasn't worth the position of the 12th squad Captain, so she had followed the man all day and had made a report describing all the things he'd done that day.

When she thought she had enough information to make sure the lazy ass wouldn't get such a high position, she went to her Captain to report everything she'd seen from Urahara Kisuke. Why had Yoruichi herself been the one who had recommended him to Yamamoto? Couldn't she see that he wasn't suited for the job?

Soifon had entered Yoruichi's quarters and started to explain what she had seen that day from Urahara, after only a few words she had stopped, though. The man in her report was currently sitting in front of Yoruichi and looked at her intently.

Yoruichi had smiled triumphantly at her and motioned her to sit next to Urahara. Soifon who knew this was her only chance to stop Urahara from becoming a Captain. So she spoke up and told Yoruichi that she had trailed Urahara and made a report from his actions. She gave her report to Yoruichi who read it over together with Urahara. His eyes had widened at the detailed report and Yoruichi had explained it was a formidable love letter, causing Soifon to blush. She had screamed at Yoruichi telling her it wasn't true and that Urahara wasn't suited for the job of a Captain. That was when a man came in and told Urahara they had found the men he'd been looking for. He got up right away and followed the man out. Soifon had gotten curious and followed them out, leaving a smiling Yoruichi behind.

She found Urahara a few minutes later in the outskirts of Rukongai. He was watching an old house, the force of reiatsu coming from it was so huge Soifon could barely move. It didn't seem to effect Urahara much, though. He simply walked in and in less then a few seconds he had defeated all the people that were hiding inside inside. She smiled, that wasn't something she'd thought possible back then. But she knew now that Urahara was very powerful.

"Yes, Urahara Kisuke." Yamamoto said, dragging her back from her old memories. "He has to know about everything we've found out about Aizen in order to protect Karakura Town and to counter Aizen's plans."

"What do you want me to tell him?"

"I want you to tell him that Aizen wants to create the King's Key and that I've given him permission to use Tenkai Kecchu and that Mayuri is working on the replica."

Soifon didn't know what Tenkai Kecchu was or what kind of replica Mayuri had to make, but she nodded anyway and went on her way to the Real World, to Karakura Town.

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Ichigo should've known it was a trap from the moment his dad had first suggested it. They had just gotten home after his dad had picked him up together with Yuzu and Karin. Ichigo was very tired from the short trip. He had been trying to walk all the way, but he could barely stand on his legs and had to lean heavily on his father. His dad of course didn't mind it at all. He was so glad his son was awake again that he wanted to sing, but he had wisely decided against it. Yuzu had been smiling all the way and even Karin seemed very happy to see her older brother again. They hadn't even seen him even once when he was at that weird hideout.

Ichigo had been surprised when his dad had told him he could lie in his big bed, until he was fully recovered again. Isshin said he'd sleep in his son's bed until Ichigo was recovered. A very drowsy Ichigo had merely nodded and went to his dad's room. He immediately fell asleep despite the fact it was only just noon. Later that day, after dinner. Yuzu and Karin had climbed in his bed, causing him to awaken. Ichigo had smiled at them, before going back to sleep again. Only this time, he thought just before he drifted off again.

The second time he woke up was less pleasant, though. The sound of a closing door had caused Ichigo to wake up again. He looked to his left side and saw his sisters sleeping peacefully. When he looked to his right, however, he saw his dad lying there with a smug smile on his face.

I should've known.

Ichigo looked at his dad with a questioning look.

"What?"

"You know I'm going to kick your ass when I can walk again, right?" Ichigo said.

Isshin merely smiled. "Goodnight Ichigo."

Ichigo sighed. "G'night dad."

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The next morning Ichigo got up and was surprised to notice he was able to walk on his own again, he wasn't even near his previous strength, but at least he could move around a bit. After they'd had breakfast Ichigo followed the advice his dad had given him. Isshin had told him that he should start exercising as soon as possible, he'd been on his back for more than a week after all. Ichigo decided to go for a walk and visit his friends. It has been more than a week since I last saw them. Where to go first though? After thinking it over for a while he decided to go to Inoue, she most likely already knew about Tatsuki's death, she was her best friend after all. And mine as well he thought sadly, while making his way to Inoue. I hope she's okay, she can be quite emotional at times.

When Inoue opened the door for him her eyes grew wide. "Kurosaki-kun!" She all but yelled. "I didn't know you were up again. We tried to visit you but we couldn't find you! Your dad said you were okay, but he didn't know where you were exactly, either. How're you doing?"

"I'm fine, Inoue. I was brought to the Vaizards, they saved my life."

"Yeah Urahara told us about the Vaizards. You want to come in? Ishida is here as well."

"Yeah, sure. Inoue" Ichigo said with a sad smile on his lips.

When Ichigo walked behind Inoue to the living room, he heard Ishida humming quitly. It's good to hear another familiar voice, he thought. I bet he's been looking after Inoue together with Chad ever since they heard about Tatsuki. When Ichigo and Inoue entered the tiny living room Ishida looked up and upon seeing Ichigo he jumped up to greet him. Ichigo's legs were soon starting to grow a bit heavy again, so he sat down quickly, not wanting to collapse in front of their eyes.

"So how have you been doing while I was out?" Ichigo asked them.

"Alright I guess." Ishida started knowing he meant Tatsuki. "I mean it still seems so unreal, who would've thought Aizen would start taking action so fast after he betrayed Soul Society? Tatsuki didn't even know anything about Shinigami's, Quincy or Hollows. She probably didn't even know what hit her."

"I think she did know what hit her. According to what my dad told me, the two Arrancar who showed up killed all the normal humans at the scene straight away, but she wasn't dead yet when I arrived. It was small, but I definitely felt her reiatsu, so I think she must at least have been able to see the two Arrancar." Ichigo explained, as he balled up his fists in anger. "I wish I'd been there sooner, I might've been able to save her!"

"No one blames you Ichigo, from what Urahara told us, they were the top Arrancar, they're far too strong for us." Inoue said, tears glistering in her eyes.

"Then I'll get stronger." Ichigo said, looking up at Inoue. "I'll train 2 years on end if need be, but I'm going to get stronger! That Aizen bastard has to pay for what he has done to Tatsuki, no one deserves to die like that."

"But Ichigo" Ishida said carefully. "Aizen probably has a big army of Arrancar protecting him in Hueco Mundo, don't you think tha-…"

"I don't care!" Ichigo cut in. "I'll cut them all down if they try to stop me, I'm going to get stronger! Aizen won't stop here, he will put his plans into motion and sooner or later he will return here, because I'm not buying that crap that he sent two of his top members only to check me out. He's going to return here, so we better be prepared."

Inoue looked at Ichigo with determination in her eyes. "He's right Ishida, we should start preparing as well. There are dangerous times coming."

Ishida looked away from them sadly, of course they are right, but how can I let them fight while I'm watching from the sidelines? With my Quincy powers gone I won't be any good during the battle, but still, the least I can do is help them get stronger. I won't forgive myself if they get themselves killed. "Yeah, of course. You're right, Inoue, but without my Quincy powers there isn't much I can do I'm afraid, but I'll try to help the both of you out with your training if I can." Ishida finished, smiling.

Ichigo nodded at Ishida and got up, he wanted to start some light training with his dad as soon as possible. "Thanks for the talk, but I have to go now. I'll see the both of you soon."

"Not so fast Ichigo." Ishida said. "I know you're barely able to stand, I'll walk you home."

Ichigo merely scowled at him and walked to the front door, waving goodbye to Inoue.

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Ishida was walking home when he felt a Hollow appear not too far from where he was walking. He had just brought Ichigo home. He'd had to lean very heavily on Ishida near the end of their walk from Inoue's place, even though he had refused to do so at the start of their walk. He can be so stubborn at times. They had arrived at his house just on time, because when his dad had opened the door, Ichigo had almost collapsed in the doorway. Isshin had thanked Ishida and asked him if he wanted to come in while he laid his son in bed. Ishida who had been surprised when he noticed that Isshin seemed to recognise him, politely declined the offer and had said he was expected home in a few minutes. Isshin nodded at him and told him to tell his dad he'd said hello and went to put Ichigo in bed.

I should've stayed at Ichigo's place, I don't know if I can destroy a Hollow without my Quincy powers, Ishida thought. He had started to run to his house now, hoping that the Hollow wouldn't come after him.

Hope didn't get him far though, he had only just started to run, when he heard the Hollow screeching as it went after him. Damn it, I hate it too be so helpless, even against normal Hollows I don't stand much of a chance. Ishida started to run harder and harder, but it was useless, the Hollow was just too fast.

I didn't plan on using this so fast, but I guess I have no choice Ishida thought, while grabbing a few silver tubes out of his pocket. He waited for the Hollow to come close so he could throw the silver tubes in an attempt to kill or at least slow the Hollow down long enough so he could escape. When the Hollow almost reached Ishida, he threw the silver tubes and started his incantation. Before he had uttered more than a few words though, he heard a very familiar sound followed by a blue arrow that ripped the Hollow in front off him too shreds.

"My, my. Such awkwardness, Uryuu." A voice behind him called.

"Ryuuken?"

"That's no way to talk to your father, Ishida." The man behind him said.

"How come you have Quincy powers? I thought you had discarded them, because they didn't get you any money." Ishida roared at his father.

"That's true, but unfortunately, my powers are not so easily lost as yours."

Ishida scowled. "What are you doing here Ryuuken? Did you only come here to gloat at me?"

"No, I have an offer for you Uryuu. I can restore your Quincy powers to you."

Ishida's eyes widened at that revelation. "What did you say?"

"You heard me, I'm making an offer to restore your Quincy powers to you, there is one condition, though." Ryuuken said with a monotone voice. "I've seen you're becoming pretty close with that Shinigami boy, Uryuu. If you really have any Quincy pride left in you and you accept my offer, you must swear that, henceforth, you will have nothing to do with the Shinigami."

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Soifon walked through Karakura Town breathing in the fresh morning air. She had wanted to come the day before, but Yamamoto had told her that she had to wait for Mayuri's report. He was checking if there was enough space in the outskirts of eastern Rukongai to create that replica he had to make. It would be unwise to let Urahara work his ass off is it wasn't doable in the first place. Soifon had wanted to complete her mission straight away, but had reluctantly agreed with him, so she had waited until the positive report came to her this morning.

It's hard to think all these people will be killed if we fail to protect them from Aizen, she thought when she was nearing her destination. Urahara Kisuke, former Captain of the 12th Squad in the Gotei 13. She had had her doubts in the beginning, but now she had to admit she liked him better then Mayuri Kurotsuchi. The only thing that guy wants is research as much specimens as possible. Of course now he was focusing his research on Aizen instead of his specimens, but she figured that was only because he wanted to save his own skin and not because he wanted everyone in Soul Society and the Real World to be safe. Yes, she liked Urahara a lot better. He was always doing what he thought was best for everyone, that was how he ended up here in the first place.

When Soifon reached her destination, she knocked on the door two times, feeling a bit uneasy. It has been more than 100 years since the last time I saw him. Would he even let me in? After all I seriously doubted him and I even tried to convince Yoruichi that he wasn't worthy to be a Captain. All her doubts were gone when Urahara Kisuke opened the door with a huge smile.

"My, my Soifon! How good to see you again. What brings you to my lovely shop?" He said, motioning her in with his fan.

"Hello Urahara." She said. "Captain-Commander Yamamoto has asked me to come to you, to inform you about the plans of Aizen Sousuke and he also asks for your help in order to counter his plans."

Urahara's eyebrows rose at her words and he quickly led her to a small room and sat her at a table.

"Please wait for a minute Soifon, I'm going to get a friend of mine. I bet she wants to know about this too."

"You don't mean that-..?" But Urahara had already left. Could it be? Was Yoruichi here as well?

Five minutes later Urahara came back dragging a Yoruichi in by her arm.

"What's the meaning of this Kisuke? You can't just barge into my room and drag me along without telling me what the hell is going on." She told her friend with a scowl on her face, but then she saw Soifon sitting there staring at her.

"Oh, Soifon, what brings you here?" Yoruichi asked her. "You're not going to try and kill me again, are you?" She added smirking.

"N-no of course not Yoruichi!" Soifon said blushing slightly.

"It's alright Soifon, now tell me what are you doing in the Real World? I doubt you came here only to chat a little with me." Yoruichi said sitting down together with Urahara, so they could listen to her story.

"Yes, I came here on Yamamoto's orders. Jushiro Ukitake and Kyouraku Shunsui have recently found an interesting book in the library. The book was covered in Aizen's reiatsu, I haven't seen the book, but Captain-Commander Yamamoto told the Captains that the book gave instructions how to create the King's Key." Soifon took a deep breath before continuing her tale. "He needs one square mile of spiritual enriched land to create it. Mayuri has checked all the possibilities and has concluded that Karakura Town is the only option for Aizen to create the key."

"He wants to create the King's Key with the Hougyoku?!" A bewildered Urahara asked Soifon. Urahara had been pondering over the possible plans Aizen had with the Hougyoku, he didn't know everything about the tiny object, although he had created it himself, but is he really planning on destroying this town?

"To create that key he has to destroy Karakura Town, you'd say he would have to go to hell for doing that, but instead he will go to the true heaven?"

Yoruichi eyes had grown wide halfway through Soifon's story. "That's insane, we have stop him! Urahara, is there anything we can do to prevent Aizen from destroying this entire town?"

"I guess there is, but it's very difficult. I need help from Soul Society, I need to go there at once. I have to talk with Yamamoto."

"I don't know exactly what it is you can do to prevent the destruction of Karakura Town, but Yamamoto told me to tell you that he gives you permission to use Tenkai Kecchu. He also said that Mayuri is working on the replica. I have no clue what it means, but does this help you Urahara?"

"Did he really say that? It certainly helps a lot. That means I can start working on it right away, thank you very much Soifon. I think we might be able to pull this off before the Hougyoku fully awakens."

Soifon smiled. "That's good news, I'd hate it if you let this town get obliterated with you and Yoruichi still in it. Alright, I'm going to report back to Yamamoto. Good luck with that Tenkai Kecchu, whatever it is."

"Thank you Soifon, take care. I think we'll see each other sooner or later." Yoruichi said as she led her successor outside.

Soifon nodded as two wooden doors appeared in front of the shop to take her back to Soul Society. After she was gone, Yoruichi went back to her room, thinking about everything that Soifon had just told them. Aizen was on the move and it wouldn't be too long until he would try to create the King's Key. According to Urahara the Hougyoku would be fully awakened in a few months time. That gives us at least some time to prepare everything, but until then we have to hope the Espada stay low. I doubt they will, though. If I were Aizen I would send a few Espada to Karakura Town simultaneously to cut down any preparations for an eventual counter-attack.

Nothing we can do about that now, though. We just have to hope Ichigo will grow strong together with the Vaizards, they are our best hope against Espada level Arrancars. I think even most Captains in Soul Society will have a lot of problems with those guys.

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When Ichigo woke up in the morning, he saw Yuzu and Karin lying beside him. He was happy to notice, though, that his dad wasn't in his bed. He probably already has achieved his goal Ichigo thought. He was always whining that we should all sleep together in one bed, 'just like old times'. Ichigo got up and went to take a shower. That guy is really going to get it today. I really need to start training if I want to grow stronger soon, I'm feeling much better than yesterday, so I think I can start today.

Ichigo got down when he was done showering and made some tea before sitting down at the table. A few minutes later Yuzu and Karin came in. Yuzu started to make some breakfast after she had greeted Ichigo and Karin also sat down and got some tea. They both sipped their tea in silence while Yuzu was busy at the stove. When Yuzu was almost done, Karin got up from her chair and walked towards Ichigo's bedroom while muttering she was going to wake their lazy dad.

A loud crash and a shouting contest later all four Kurosaki's sat at the table eating their breakfast. Isshin looked very sourly at his daughter, but she merely smiled at him viciously and continued eating her breakfast.

"Dad." Ichigo said suddenly. "I want to fight with you."

Everyone at the table looked at him in silence.

"What do you mean fight?" Yuzu cried. Thinking Ichigo was afraid of those men who had attacked him "Those two men who attacked you are gone, everything is alright now, you don't have to fight!"

Ichigo ignored Yuzu and looked his father straight in the eyes. "Don't you think it might be time to tell them who we are? If you want the both of them to come out of the war alive, they have to know what's going on."

Isshin hung his head and sighed. "I guess you're right, Ichigo, there are dangerous times coming." Isshin turned his attention towards Yuzu and Karin and began talking. "Girls, let me tell you about myself and Ichigo, the two brave Shinigami's who have saved the world from all evil"

Ichigo looked down at his plate while his father was telling the girls everything he knew about Aizen, the Arrancar, Soul Society and the upcoming battle in the winter. He couldn't resist bragging about Ichigo and himself a bit, but Ichigo couldn't arse himself to interrupt the man. Yuzu looked at her dad intently as he filled her in on all the details. Karin on the other hand seemed to know most of this already. Just how smart is that girl? Ichigo didn't got much more time to ponder about it, though, as he was distracted from his thoughts when his dad was finishing his story.

"And that's why it's important for your brother to go to the Vaizard. They're going to learn him how he can defend himself properly so he can grow just as strong as me and beat all those Arrancars Aizen sends after him and help the Shinigami from Soul Society to stop Aizen before it's too late." Isshin finished.

Yuzu looked at her brother, tears shining in her face. "Do you really have to go Ichi nii-san?"

"Yeah, I have to protect my friends and family from Aizen, Yuzu, I can't let him kill anyone else. He has to be stopped."

Yuzu's tears finally started to leak form the corners of her eyes and she leapt towards Ichigo and started to squeeze him to death as she sobbed on his shoulder. Ichigo patted her on her back and looked at Karin, who had remained silent throughout the whole conversation. She looked at him with sad eyes and forced her tears back. "I know I can't stop you from doing what you want to do Ichigo." She said finally. "But I just wished I could help you."

"I know I can't stop you from doing what you want either, Karin." Ichigo said smiling at her. "I'm sure you'll find a way to help us out in the war one way or another even though I won't like it one bit. I don't want to see you on the frontlines"

The rest of the morning was spent talking about the war. They talked about Aizen and the Vaizards, Ichigo didn't really know much about them, but he did know he would get his ass kicked badly if he tried to train with them right know. Especially that Lisa girl. She looked very dangerous to him. Ichigo had only seen her for a few moments when he had finally woken up, but her look had scared him a little. She had looked at him through her glasses with those curious eyes that seemed to know everything, she was someone to be reckoned with.

In the afternoon Ichigo went to Urahara together with his dad. He figured it would be quite suspicious if the normal people who couldn't see Shinigami's suddenly saw the training grounds get demolished when Ichigo was training with his dad. Urahara's basement was a more suitable place for training. When they arrived at the Urahara Shop, Yoruichi told them Urahara was out, doing some kind of research. She told them about the visit they'd had in the morning from Soifon and explained everything concerning the King's Key and what Aizen intended to do with it. When she was done talking Ichigo dragged his dad to the basement and rammed the amulet that resembled a skull in his chest before doing it to himself as well, after hearing the story from Yoruichi he was ready for some training with his dad. He wanted to get ready as soon as possible, so he could start his training with the Vaizards.

---|---

When the wooden doors had closed behind her, Soifon made her way through the forest in the western part of Rukongai. She had really liked seeing Yoruichi again, even though it was only briefly. She know knew were she lived, so she could always visit her again if she wanted. After all this mess with Aizen is over I'm going to have a nice long talk with her. After we kick Urahara out, of course. He's bound to ruin it one way or another.

When she saw the gates of Sereitei she snapped out of her pondering, she had to tell the Captain-Commander about her talk with Urahara as soon as possible, he would like to know what Urahara had said. He had a difficult task to complete after all, so it was important to have him at the side of Soul Society. Soifon did think the Captain Commander should've at least added an apology though, Urahara had been forced to leave Soul Society, even though he had been right all along.

When Soifon had almost reached the gate where Judanbou was standing guard she heard a ruckus to her left. Soifon figured that the Captain-Commander could wait a bit, he didn't know how long her talk would take, anyway. So she sped towards the noise in silence. She could go almost everywhere undetected, being a Covert Ops agent had its uses.

When Soifon neared the scene she heard people shouting to each other, she moved closer so she could see what was happening. She saw several men cornering a girl with slightly spiky dark hair and brown eyes. She was little shorter than an average teenage girl and she was holding a big fish in her left hand.

"Just hand it over to us, girl, you have no use for it anyway." A low voice called out.

"No use for it? I'm starving to death out here, why is it that there's almost no food out here? The only thing you can get here is water. If you want your own fish to fry you better go and catch it yourself before I fry _you_." Was the angry response.

The three men standing before her chuckled at that. "Come now, just hand it over to us. There's no need for a good looking girl like yourself to get hurt over something she doesn't even need in the first place."

"Come and get it you fat oaf, do you really think you can beat me if you can't even catch a fish by yourself? To me it seems you're the one who doesn't need it. You've got a lot of reserves so you can go on for a while without getting some food." The girl said while throwing her fish to her left and assuming a battle stance.

The men growled at the cheek the girl was showing them and they all charged towards her, grabbing their swords in the process. Soifon who had wanted to step in from the moment the men had started putting their hands on the hilts of their swords stopped in her tracks, as she saw what was happening and watched in awe as the girl punched the first one in his face. When her fist impacted on the left side of his meaty face a loud crunching noise could be heard, followed by several teeth flying out of his mouth. The next man wasn't so lucky though, the girl grabbed him by his head after she had knocked the sword out of his hands, he looked up at her in surprise and fear as she slammed him headfirst into a brick wall with such a large force that several bricks broke on impact. The man who had caused the bricks to break slid down the wall ending in a heap on the cold floor. He was bleeding heavily and he had a severe skull fracture.

There was only one man left standing now and he looked fearfully in the eyes of a demon, panting in fury. He dropped his sword onto the floor and ran for his life. The girl had wanted to follow him, but before she even started running she clutched her stomach with her hands and collapsed.

A stunned Soifon grabbed the girl from the street and took her to her own quarters and laid her in bed. She wanted to stay with the girl until she woke up, but duty called and she had to report back to Yamamoto. He would be wondering what was keeping her, so she left her quarters and she made her way to the Captain-Commander, hoping the girl would still be asleep when she got back with some food. The girl looked like she could use a big meal.

When Soifon arrived at the first squad's barracks, she made her way towards Yamamoto. She knocked on the door and asked if she could come in to give her report. After a 'Come in please' she entered and was surprised to see Mayuri Kurotsuchi, sitting in front of Yamamoto.

"Hello Soifon, let us hear your report, how did it go at Urahara's?" The Captain-Commander asked her.

"I told Urahara Kisuke everything you told us at the meeting before I left Soul Society to find him. When I arrived in the Real World I could find his reiatsu pretty fast and I went on my way to his little shop." Soifon began. "He led me into a small room and I was pleasantly surprised to see Yoruichi was also present."

"How did he react to the news?" The Captain Commander asked.

"At first he seemed really put out and shocked, but when he recovered he wanted to go to you straight away, probably to ask permission to use Tenkai Kecchu. I told him you had given your permission already and that Mayuri Kurotsuchi was working on a replica."

"That's good to hear, now could you please listen to Mayuri Kurotsuchi, he was just telling me about the replica and all the work involved, I think you're quite curious as to what he's going to replicate?"

Without waiting for a reply Mayuri started talking about the replica and started to drone on and on about the hard work involved in it. Under normal circumstances Soifon would've liked to know all about the replica and Tenkai Kecchu, but now her mind was wandering back to her quarters where the unconscious girl was lying right now. She had been very surprised to see the unarmed girl take down three armed men on her own. She'd knocked the first one unconscious and the second man was heavily wounded, if he wasn't dead already. The third one was lucky and had gotten away.

A few minutes later Mayuri was done talking and she started to leave.

"Oh, one more thing, Soifon."

"What is it, Yamamoto?"

"I just wanted to know why you were so late. From what I've heard from your report, you didn't have much trouble in convincing Urahara to help us."

"Oh, yes that's right, I stumbled on two men in an alley when I arrived in western Rukongai earlier, they seemed to have been knocked out pretty badly. I wanted to know who had done that to those two men, but I couldn't find anything, so after a tiny search I gave up and came here to give my report." Soifon said, not knowing why she didn't tell him about the girl.

"Alright, I'll send a few people from the 4th squad to look for them. You may go now, Soifon."

Fifteen minutes later Soifon arrived at her quarters and was pleased to see the girl seemed to be regaining consciousness. Soifon walked to the table in her quarters and laid out a meal fit for a king, while humming pleasantly.

When she was almost done she heard a sleepy voice behind her. "Where am I, who're you?"

"Hello there, I'm Soifon, you're at my quarters in the 2th squad barracks. I saw you fighting those men back there and I have to say I was quite impressed at your fighting skill, but before we talk about that I think you should eat some. You looked like you could use a meal so I brought you some food." Soifon said pointing at the table.

The girl looked at her appreciatively and almost ran towards the table and started eating like she hadn't had a meal in years. Soifon watched the girl eat and chuckled slightly. Her Vice-Captain was the only person she knew who could beat her eating speed. After twenty minutes the girl was done eating and leaned back in her chair, sighing contently.

"Thank you very much for the meal." She started. "I really appreciate it don't get me wrong, but why are you doing this for me? You don't even know me."

"As I said before, I saw you fighting those three armed men. I wanted to step in straight away, but you handled it yourself pretty good. Tell me, what do you know about Soul Society and the Gotei 13?"

"I've only been her for a little over a week, so I don't know much yet, but from what I've heard up till now, I know there are thirteen squads in Soul Society where the best Shinigami's are placed according to their skill. Other than that there isn't much I know about it."

Soifon nodded at the girl and started to explain everything about the Gotei 13 and the Shinigami's who entered the squads after going through the Academy. Soifon smiled as she started talking about her own squad and the Covert Ops. How they specialised themselves in assassinations and protected Soul Society from everyone who tried to disrupt the order. Soifon was quite pleased when she saw the girl listening to her with big eyes, she seemed very interested in the Covert Ops and the 2th squad.

"Where's this academy you were talking about?" She asked. "I want to join the 2th squad as soon as possible, I'm sick of standing on the sidelines forever, I want to do something and help you to maintain peace in Soul Society!"

"I don't think that'll work." Soifon said causing the girl to scowl. "The academy that is, I'm going to train you personally. I've seen you fight, you're very powerful and I can see you'll be able to grow strong very fast with the right methods. Before you consider going in training with me though, I want you to know this isn't just about maintaining peace in Soul Society. There's a war going on right now. A few weeks ago Three Captains betrayed Soul Society and went to Hueco Mundo and took control there, they are making the Hollows there stronger, so they can use them for fighting purposes." Soifon looked at the girl as she took in everything she had just been told. "Now, do you think you'll be able to help me in the war? We're in need of strong allies that can pose a threat to Aizen, I can see you're strong and that you can become much stronger, but it's very risky to head into this war, so please think about it carefully before you answer."

"Quit your yapping women, we're wasting time here. Learn me how to fight better, I don't know what this Aizen bloke is planning, but he has to be stopped and if I can help, I'm willing to risk everything." The girl said looking straight into Soifon's eyes.

Soifon laughed at this. "I've only known you for about one hour and I like you already. Do you have a name? I can't keep calling you girl forever."

"I'm Arisawa Tatsuki." She said with a gleam of determination on her face.

---|---|---

_And chapter four__ is done!_

_I've worked on it a bit longer than expected so I hope you liked this chapter, I certainly did enjoy writing it!_

_R&R!_


	5. Chapter 5: Twin swords

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Bleach or any of the characters.

_**Lycodrake: **__Thank you for pointing out that mistake for me, I guess I shouldn't post too late in the evening anymore, but since I'm doing it again now I don't think I'll ever learn, hehe. As for your story-to-be I'm looking forward to it, I'm certainly going to check it out!_

_**DarkJason: **__Thank you for all the suggestions you've given me, I really appreciate them I certainly loved the names you've given me. I'm still looking in to it, so you'll see what I made of it when the time comes._

_**Bruuz: **__At the moment I'm creating their Shikai's and possible Bankai's as we speak, but if the Manga releases them before it hits my own chapter I might add those if I like them. But you can expect newly made Shikai's for at least a couple of Vaizard in my story. I got quite some plans for Tatsuki at the moment so stay tuned if you want to see more from her._

_As for Rukia and Renji, I'm going to let them play a pretty important role as well, you'll be able to see some Rukia action in this chapter already. But you have to know they haven't got the mayor roles in my story, even though I like Rukia a lot as well!_

_I hope you can read my chapter before you go away for your holidays, have a nice time!_

_Note: I edited the last part of my story as Bruuz kindly pointed out that I seemed to have rushed the event a bit. I made it a bit longer, I hope everyone likes it now!  
_

**Chapter 5:**** Twin swords**

Rukia was sitting in front of her Captain, Ukitake Jushiro wondering why he asked her to come to his quarters. Ever since she'd been rescued by Ichigo and Aizen had left to rule Hueco Mundo, Soul Society has been in chaos. All the squads in the Gotei 13 were running all over the place, finishing the orders they were given by Captain-Commander Yamamoto or avoiding the man so they could get a bit of rest. Especially the 12th squad was in pain, no one had seen them in the last few days. They'd been holed up in their barracks studying the movements of the Arrancar since Aizen had left and they were now trying to figure out a way to stop Aizen from creating the King's Key. That they hadn't heard about it yet from the Captain-Commander didn't bode well, but maybe the man already had some other plans running in order to stop Aizen.

"How are you feeling today, Rukia?" Ukitake asked, distracting her from her thoughts.

"I'm fine actually." Rukia said, surprised by the sincere question. "My Shinigami powers are gradually returning now I'm back in Soul Society, I think I'll be at full power again in a few days time."

"That's good to hear Rukia, do you still plan on going back to the real world to help that Ichigo boy fight the Espada, should they try to attack him again?" He asked.

Rukia's eyes visibly widened. She had wanted to go back to Karakura Town when she was back to full power. She hadn't talked to anyone about her plans, not even Renji, she wanted to tell him her plans later on but she hadn't had the time for it yet. So how did Ukitake know about it and if he knew did that mean that Nii-sama also knows? She certainly hoped he didn't, he would try to stop her at all costs, he did everything to protect her. He had even made sure that she couldn't get promoted by Ukitake so she didn't get the more dangerous missions.

"H-how did you know that?" Rukia finally asked him.

Ukitake laughed at her. "Did you really think I wouldn't notice, Rukia? I knew since the moment you heard about the Espada attack on Karakura Town that you wanted to go there to help your friends once you got your Shinigami powers back."

Rukia looked at the floor with a defeated look on her face, every time she wanted to do what she thought was right she was stopped by the people around her who claimed that for her own protection she should stay safely at home and pretend nothing was wrong.

"What's with that face, Rukia? I never thought you would give up that easily. Don't you think that if I wanted you to stay at home safely just like you brother, I would've told him already and he would've had you strapped to your bed already by now?"

"Do you mean?" Rukia asked uncertainly as she eyed her Captain.

"Yes, I'm not going to stop you, Rukia. I think it's good to do what you want and follow your dreams and ambitions. You should always do what your heart tells you and not what others say you should do." He watched her as she took in everything he'd told her before continuing. "I didn't let you come here only to tell you that though Rukia. I've got an offer for you and I hope you'll accept it."

Rukia nodded. "What offer might that be, Captain?"

"I wanted to ask you if you want to become my Vice-captain, I haven't found anyone who is capable for the job since Shiba Kaien. And before you ask, your brother won't have any say in this, we're preparing for war right now, so the 13th squad can use all the help it can get to grow stronger."

Rukia was at a loss for words. Vice-captain, me? Just like Kaien-dono… and her brother wasn't able to stop her?

"Yes!" She said when she regained her ability of speech. "Yes, I want to become your Vice-captain."

**---|---**

Lisa was sitting in the basement, together with all the other Vaizards. It had only been a few days since Urahara had come to tell them everything what he'd heard from Soul Society about Aizen's plans with the Hougyoku. They'd all been amazed that he had accepted to help Captain-Commander Yamamoto. Hiyori had screamed that he was out of his mind. Why help the man who had done nothing about their sentence and had wanted all of them executed for being Hollows. As far as she was concerned the man could die in his sleep and the other Vaizards didn't mind if that happened either. But Urahara had wisely told them that if they didn't help each other, Aizen would win the war and they'd all be killed or worse. Yes, sadly enough they needed the Shinigami's from Soul Society to stop Aizen from creating the King's Key.

When Urahara had left, most of the Vaizards started training right away, first they'd only trained because they wanted to kick Ichigo's arse in order to motivate him to get stronger as quick as possible. They all knew the boy had a great potential, but now they wanted to train so they could match Aizen Sousuke and his army of Arrancar and Espada. Mostly they took turns with training. They would match up two people and the rest would watch the battle. Giving advice or comments after the battle was over.

Lisa hoped that Ichigo would be able to train with them in the next few days. That boy is one of a kind, just like his dad. She couldn't determine if his dad was just plain crazy, or only pretended to be crazy so he could take you by surprise when you least expected it. Lisa guessed it was the latter.

"Oi, Lisa!" Shinji called out to her. "It's your turn, d'ya want ta fight with me? I haven't seen ya fight in ages."

"Get lost Shinji, I'm reading at the moment. Maybe I'll fight you tomorrow." Lisa replied. Shinji could be so annoying, he was very strong and had unique talents, but he was no match for her speed.

"Aww, c'mon! I can't have the first love of my life grow weak, you need ta keep fit if ya want ta keep up with me." He said trying to coax her.

"Shut it, Shinji, I can't concentrate on my Manga if you keep yapping."

Shinji who really wanted to fight with her grabbed his sword and sliced her Manga in two pieces.

All the other Vaizards in the vicinity gasped in horror, how could he be so stupid?

He's so dead.

Lisa trembled with rage as she grabbed her Daito and walked slowly towards Shinji.

"You….are going…..to regret that." She said in a menacing voice, causing Shinji to gulp and run for his life.

**---|---**

Ichigo grabbed his sword by the hilt and blocked the attack coming from behind, he's pretty good, but he's nowhere near my current level. I can beat him easily even if I'm not fully recovered yet. He's very quick, but there's no way he can match my speed. Ichigo saw his dad coming from the left and raised his sword to block the attack and sped towards him.

A loud clanging noise could be heard when they locked blades. When Isshin looked at his son's sword his eyebrows raised, he fights with a Shikai this early in battle? Why would he do that? It makes much more sense to start off with a sealed Zanpakuto. If you are losing, or want to end the battle quickly then you should release it, not earlier. Now I think about it, I don't think I saw him release it. Was his Zanpakuto already released when we started? That certainly is odd. I'll just have to find out what this is all about.

"Is that all you've got Ichigo?" Isshin said taunting. "After three days of training you're finally able to properly draw your sword and this is what I get?"

"Shut up, old man. I'm just getting started" Ichigo said, grinning at his dad.

"If you just got started, why are you already fighting in your Shikai? If I were you I would start off with a sealed Zanpakuto, unless your opponent is way out of your league."

"I can't seal my Zanpakuto, Zangetsu is in a constant release state."

"Nonsense, all Zanpakuto's can be sealed, you released it at least once, right?" Isshin asked his son, trying to distract him enough so he could push him back, but Ichigo had stopped fighting and seemed to be pondering about the weird thing that was his Zanpakuto.

"Yeah, now I think about it. I released it once, it was here when I got out of the Shattered Shaft and started to train with Urahara." Ichigo finally said, wondering why his sword didn't return to his sealed state after battle. He fought many Shinigami's while he was in Soul Society. Their swords always returned to their previous state after battle, except Zaraki Kenpachi's Zanpakuto, of course, but he can't even release it in the first place. If everyone can seal it, then why can't I?

"What did your sealed Zanpakuto look like, Ichigo?"

"I'm not sure, I released my broken Zanpakuto. That sword was not created with my own powers, but together with Rukia's, so I guess my sealed sword will look different than that one. I hope so at least. It's a pain to swing with such a huge sword in a long battle." Ichigo said scowling, as he thought back at the time he used that huge sword, it looked pretty cool, but the sword wasn't suited for fighting long battles, fighting with it could be very tiresome.

"I see." Isshin said. "It might be a bit troublesome to seal your sword forcefully if you don't know what it looks like, but no worries, we'll figure it out!" Isshin finished, giving Ichigo a fatherly smile.

"How do you suppose we're going to do this then?" Ichigo asked, ignoring the lousy attempt of a fatherly smile his father had just given him.

"Why don't you sit down and try to focus on your powers given to you by Zangetsu? That's the only thing I can think of at the moment."

Ichigo nodded and sat down. He supposed that focussing on the power was the only thing that could possibly work. If they didn't figure out how to do it today they could always ask Urahara when he got back from his research. What exactly were the powers given to him by Zangetsu, though? They could be his Shinigami powers, Getsuga Tenshou or something else maybe?

Ichigo sighed and closed his eyes as he searched for his power He thought about Getsuga Tenshou, he had learned that skill from Zangetsu himself, but it was just some bunched up reiatsu gathered at the tip of his sword until he released it, causing an insane amount of damage. No that couldn't be it. Then what was it? Ichigo kept pondering about it for a while, until a sudden realisation struck him, of course! Bankai.

Yes, that could be his powers. Bankai is the tip of a Shinigami's power, after all. But is my Bankai the power, or is it only a method to get my powers out? What happens to me when I use it? Firstly I get these awesome clothes, but that can't be my power of course. I also get a light black sword, which is a lot easier to fight with than my Shikai and on top of that I gain a lot of speed. Ichigo's eyes shot open.

Speed.

"_**Very well Ichigo, you figured it out."**_

"Zangetsu!!" Ichigo turned around and saw he was in the spirit world.

"_**I'm surprised it took you so long to start sealing me, but nonetheless I'm glad to see you've figured it out all by yourself. There is however, one more thing you need to do to finish the sealing. Since you never had me sealed in the first place, you must visualise the sword yourself, but be careful here, once you've visualised it you can never change it again. You are an unique case, since you're the first to make the sword yourself so don't waste that opportunity, Ichigo."**_

Ichigo nodded and closed his eyes once again. What kind of sword would be best for my fighting style? Something similar to my Bankai I think. A daito maybe? Ichigo suddenly remembered seeing a daito not too long ago, where was it though? The image of a long sword in a dark-blue hilt wrapping resting on the hip of… Who was it? Ichigo couldn't place it, but decided to choose a daito for his sealed Zanpakuto.

"Okay, I know what sword I want."

"_**Alright, Ichigo, now**__** to finish the sealing, you have to clearly visualise it in your mind's eye."**_

Ichigo nodded again and started visualising the sword in his mind. He pictured a daito similar to the one he had seen, but this one had a black hilt wrapping and the leather-made scabbard was the same dark-blue colour as the hilt wrapping from that sword he'd seen earlier. As soon as Ichigo had pictured it clearly in his mind the sword appeared in front of him.

Ichigo strapped the sword onto his back and looked at Zangetsu as he was leaving the spirit world. "Zangetsu, what happened to your clothes? They used to be black, right? They're starting to get white now."

Zangetsu looked down and saw that his usual black clothes he always wore were almost completely white. it was getting worse by the day. That boy better do something about it before it's too late. Just as Zangetsu wanted to tell the boy he had to control his inner Hollow Ichigo disappeared from sight and went back to his own world.

---|---

Ichigo opened his eyes and smiled when he felt the weight of his new sword on his back. This weight is certainly much better than that huge cleaver. He felt better than he had in years. Ichigo stood up and looked at his dad, he was smiling at Ichigo when he saw the boy grabbing his daito and pulling it out of its scabbard. When he saw the sword of his son he was surprised to see it was almost exactly the same as the sword that that Lisa girl had when she came over to ask questions about Ichigo.

"How do you feel Ichigo?" Isshin called out to his son.

"Pretty good actually, much better than I thought I would, I have no idea why, though."

"I think I know why, Ichigo. Now your sword is sealed, it doesn't tap your reiatsu all the time anymore. I think you'll have far better control over it now and you'll notice that it'll be easier to hide and sense reiatsu patterns now. Just before you opened your eyes I noticed that your reiatsu calmed down, this is the first time I noticed that. Ever since the day that you regained your Shinigami powers your reiatsu has been like a flickering candle. Now. Let's test this new sword of yours shall we?"

"Of course dad, but before we start I want to know something. Do you have Bankai? I know you're strong, but I have no idea just how strong you are."

"How nice of you to ask, Ichigo, yes I've got Bankai, but don't get any things in your head. There's no way in hell you're going to see it during our training sessions. I don't want to kill my own son, Masaki would never forgive me." Isshin said smirking as he charged forward drawing his sword.

"We'll see about that." Ichigo replied, grinning wickedly.

Ichigo blocked the incoming attacks from his dad and started attacking his dad swinging his sword like a madman, this was the first time he was using a daito so he had to get used to the weight. Ichigo thought that the best way to let his dad use his Bankai was to beat him mercilessly in this duel, he wanted to see his dad's Bankai. His dad was no bad fighter, though. It may have been more than twenty years since he was an active Shinigami, but he could still fight very good.

"I see you still got to get used to your new sword, Ichigo." Isshin taunted.

"And you're still as rusty as ever." Ichigo retorted.

Their blades clanged as they started to fight with more vigour. Ichigo wanted to make the fight more fun and decided to put some Shunpo into it. They soon started to battle at high speed kicking each other in rock formations while they kept blocking incoming attacks from each other. Ichigo's dad could use Shunpo very good as well, but Ichigo started to get the upper hand in the fight as he gradually got used to his new sword.

"Very well, Ichigo, I'll give you a show and let you see my Shikai. Not many people get to see this rare phenomenon so cherish this moment for the re-…"

Isshin who had wanted to say something very cool was rudely interrupted by his son. "Yada, yada. Hurry up old man, I want to see your Bankai already." Ichigo said with a bored expression on his face.

"Be sure your wishes don't kill you, Ichigo." Isshin replied grinning as he stuck out his fist and held his sword in front of him horizontally. "*Uzu, Shouta!" Isshin chanted as he was enveloped in grey smoke.

Ichigo sighed, damn that Urahara with his smoke bombs, his dad couldn't help himself again and had to use one for the effects. As the smoke was clearing Ichigo saw his dad standing tall with his fist still in front of him. When Ichigo saw his dad's sword he had to say it looked pretty awesome. In his fist he held a simple black steel hilt with a blade attached on either side of it. The left side was thick and curved downwards into a small pointed blade. The right side curved upwards mirroring the blade on the left side.

"Looks neat, old man." Ichigo said. "But it doesn't change much to our battle, you just made your sword look cooler and you added a blade to it."

"We will see, Ichigo." Isshin replied smirking.

As Ichigo ran forward to strike at his father so he could force him to use his Bankai. Isshin opened his fist, his sword however, didn't fall to the ground, but stuck to Isshin's palm and started spinning. Ichigo looked down and saw that the ground in front of him was tearing apart. What the hell? When he looked up again, he saw his dad grinning widely and his sword increased its pace, causing a large gust of wind to gather in front of it. Isshin waved with his free hand to his son and the gust of wind in front of him sped towards Ichigo.

Ichigo held his sword in front of him in an attempt to block the attack, but it was to no avail. After a few seconds of struggling Ichigo was sent flying backwards into the wall.

"As you can see Ichigo, the true power of my Zanpakuto is wind, I can manipulate it and use it as my weapon."

"Hmpf, it still makes no difference, I'll just have to draw out enough reiatsu to blast it away." Ichigo said as he started drawing out his reiatsu, preparing to blast that propeller-like sword of his father away.

That was no good idea.

As soon as he started drawing out reiatsu, Ichigo felt his inner Hollow stir and it tried to take him over again. Ichigo groaned inwardly. Why can't he just leave me alone?

"_**Ah, so good to see you again**__**, Ichigo, you got me a little worried back there. You almost got yourself killed and that was only because you refused to let me take over and win the fight."**_

"Go away!"

"_**Why should I go away, Ichigo? The last time I did that bad things happened**__** to you."**_

Isshin looked at his son fearfully, was his inner Hollow taking him over? He had to do something! Without the Vaizards here it was impossible for Ichigo to control it. If only they were here, or at least Urahara. He would know what to do.

Isshin did the best thing he could come up with in that situation and started talking to Ichigo, telling him everything was going to be alright, that he believed in him and that he had to keep fighting his inner Hollow.

"Stay with me Ichigo, don't you dare to turn into a Hollow!"

Suddenly Yoruichi landed besides the two men and kicked Ichigo in the left side of his face which sent him flying into a few rocks.

"A good kick always works when you're out of options, Isshin." She said smirking as the man looked at her in disbelief. Just a single kick would've worked? Why didn't I think of that, I've got enough practice with kicking him, but no, I had to try this talking crap. Like he'd listen to me even if he heard me.

"Ugh, Yoruichi, thanks you for bringing me back to reality I really appreciate it, but did the kick have to be so hard?" Ichigo's pained voice rang out a couple of metres away.

"No, not really." She replied. "But the opportunity was just too good to waste. But enough chitchat, I think it's time to get you to the Vaizard. You can't resist your inner Hollow much longer."

Ichigo nodded and followed her out together with his dad.

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After Ichigo was done saying goodbye to his sisters and friends he walked to the Vaizard together with Yoruichi and his dad. He still wondered where Ishida was, he couldn't find the former Quincy anywhere. Yoruichi and Isshin were standing at his side eyeing him carefully as they neared the hideout the Vaizards had used for more than 100 years, it was almost like they expected his inner Hollow could jump out at them any second now.

"Don't you dare to kick me again." Ichigo said eyeing Yoruichi.

Yoruichi laughed and took the barrier down protecting the hideout and they walked inside. Upon seeing none of the Vaizard were upstairs, they went to the basement. Ichigo was amazed to see it was just like Urahara's basement as they walked down the stairs. It was a bit different, but still very similar. The three of them looked up when they heard a loud moaning voice and they went to check it out. All the Vaizards were gathered around Shinji Hirako who seemed to be bleeding heavily. Everyone but Lisa Yadoumaru that is, she was busy repairing her Manga, muttering it was his own fault he got beaten so badly, because he destroyed her precious Manga.

When Ichigo neared the group of Vaizards everyone but a barely conscious Shinji looked at him.

"Ichigo! Are you fully healed already? I didn't expect you for at least the next two days." Hachigen said.

"I wasn't really planning to come here today already, but my inner Hollow kinda took control of me this afternoon when I was sparring a bit with my dad, so we figured it would be for the best if I came here as soon as possible in order to control it." Ichigo said feeling quite uncomfortable as everyone was looking at him.

"If your Hollow took control, how's it possible that you're not transformed yet?"

"I kicked him in the face." Yoruichi said simply.

"Ah, that explains it. Any Hollow would crawl back into its hole after receiving a kick from you, Yoruichi." Love said.

"Alright, if you guys can take care of Ichigo I'll be going now, Urahara has given me an important task I need to complete. Isshin don't stay here too long or you'll never be able to return to your daughters in one piece." Yoruichi said jokingly as she walked to the stairs.

Isshin looked at Shinji and nodded at her.

"Don't worry." Rose told Isshin as he saw him looking at Shinji. "Your son is in good hands."

"Lisa, why don't you show Ichigo his room together with his dad? I don't think he's in any danger of turning into a Hollow right now so he better get some sleep. He's going to need it tomorrow." Hachigen said.

Lisa laid down her ruined Manga and motioned the two Kurosaki's to follow her to the stairs. They followed her cautiously as they were pretty sure she had almost killed the man lying in a bloody mess on the floor right now.

I don't want to mess with that girl, Ichigo thought. She's freaking dangerous.

"Here's your room Ichigo." Lisa told them as they neared the room Ichigo had used while he was recovering from the Espada attack. "Sleep well, you're going to need it tomorrow."

As Lisa turned around to walk back to the basement Ichigo saw a very familiar daito dangling on her hip. This was where he'd seen it earlier! He hoped she didn't mind he had almost the exact same weapon as she did, but then again, she didn't know he had chosen his Zanpakuto himself. He saw his dad looking at her sword as well as she turned around the corner. Isshin smiled at Ichigo and clapped him on his back.

"The two of you seem to have almost the exact same weapon, what a coincidence, don't you think, Ichigo?" He said playfully. "Well, anyway. I should be going as well. Good luck with your training here Ichigo and kick that Hollow's ass tomorrow. Tell him I said hello will you?"

Ichigo laughed. "Sure, dad. Oh can I ask you something before you leave?"

"What is it, Ichigo?"

"Would it be alright if you, you know, let your reiatsu leak out a bit more when you're around Yuzu and Karin. I think that would help them establish their spiritual powers. I mean it's not like they're going straight into the war, but it might be good for them to know what going on and to feel it if dangerous Hollows or Arrancar are close by."

Isshin thought about it for a moment before he answered. "Hmm, I think you're right Ichigo, it would be useful for them if they could sense Hollows and Arrancar better so they know when to hide themselves if I'm not around or run towards familiar reiatsu sources if need be. I'll be careful not to leak out too much, though. It won't do if they keep passing out every time I walk by." Isshin said.

"Thanks, dad."

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Soifon was sitting behind her desk as she looked at Tatsuki's sleeping form on her bed. They'd been training for the past few days without much sleep. Tatsuki said she could sleep later and wanted to train harder, but Soifon told her to shut up and said it was better for her training to at least get a few hours of sleep in everyday. Tatsuki hesitantly agreed with her and wanted to lay down on the floor in the basement of the cave were she was training together with Soifon. But Soifon told her she would sleep in a soft bed for once and dragged her to her own quarters.

Tatsuki was now deep asleep, tired from all the training they'd had in the past few days. Soifon looked away from her and sighed. She could see that the girl was going to be very strong someday, but could it be fast enough? They needed her in the upcoming battle against Aizen.

A knocking sound caused her to jump in her chair. "What is it?" She called.

"Captain, I've got news from Ukitake Jushiro." Said the voice of her Vice-captain, Marechiyo Omaeda. "He asked us to come to the 13th squad barracks tomorrow at noon, to celebrate Kuchiki Rukia's promotion."

"Alright, thank you Omaeda, you may go now." Soifon said, wondering why she still put up with the man.

A party for Kuchiki Rukia, huh. It looks like Ukitake finally managed to get past Byakuya's protectiveness. Rukia must be glad she can finally do what she wants to do, she deserves the promotion. She's a good Shinigami with excellent swordsmanship and Kidou skills. Soifon wondered if she should take Tatsuki with her to the party. No one in Sereitei has seen her yet I believe, but a bit of rest should do her good, she's been training very hard the past few days after all.

I'll ask her tomorrow, Soifon thought. If it's her choice she's going to train probably, though. But you never know. Soifon closed her eyes as she leaned back in her chair. She needed to get some sleep as well. That Tatsuki girl really must get her own quarters soon, I don't think it'll be fun to sleep in my chair every day.

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Ichigo was abruptly awoken when someone poked him on the head with the hilt of a daito.

"Wake up little Hollow, It's time to get your demon under control!" A voice near his head called out.

"Five more minutes." Ichigo grumbled as he rolled over in his bed in an attempt to get some more sleep, he was unlucky that Lisa was the one waking him up, though. She didn't like it when people disobeyed her and she didn't mind showing them how she felt about it. Her former Captain had experienced that countless of times, the lazy ass never could get out of his bed, either. Lisa thought, thinking back at him. She wondered if she should give Ichigo the same wake up call as she used to give Shunsui when he was being lazy again. She decided against it, she didn't think it would be any good to embarrass the boy on his first training day, by spanking his ass until he got out of bed. Instead she grabbed him by his arms and threw him out of his bed, knocking his head on his nightstand in the process.

"I told you to get up you lazy bum, Kensei is making breakfast." She said as she tried not to laugh at his dumbfounded look.

"I-I'll be right there." Ichigo said, suddenly wide awake.

"Good."

When everyone was done with breakfast half an hour later, they went to the basement so they could start Ichigo's training. Hachigen was already preparing to set up the barriers as the other Vaizards were discussing the problem concerning an injured Shinji.

"I think it's best if someone goes in there twice, Shinji can't hope to keep Ichigo busy in his current state." Kensei said glaring at Lisa.

Lisa sighed in response. "Alright, alright. I'll go twice, since I'm the one who caused his injury. I'm going to take the first and last round."

They all went over to Hachigen as he finished his barrier around Ichigo who was slowly turning into a Hollow. Lisa motioned for Hachigen to let her in the barrier and grabbed her Zanpakuto by the hilt and waited until Ichigo got up. His mask was already forming as he grabbed his sword and attacked her at once. Lisa dug her feet into the ground as she blocked him. Damn, he's powerful. She thought, while landing a heavy kick in his chest, which sent him flying away. But not powerful enough to beat me, though. Show me what you've got Ichigo!

Show her he did. He moved swiftly making it impossible for Lisa to get a few attacks in. She moved around in the barrier, avoiding Ichigo's attacks, his Hollow mask was steadily taking form now. He's so fast and he only just started his Hollowfication, he'll turn out to be a very quick fighter, maybe he can even match my own speed when he has controlled his Hollow. But for now I'm still faster, Lisa thought while blasting him away with a few strong kicks in his face.

Ten minutes later a panting Lisa got out of the barrier and was replaced by Kensei. He threw her a wristwatch and said Hiyori should replace him in ten minutes time. Lisa nodded and sat down next to the other Vaizards.

"Is he strong?" They all asked.

"He is, he really made me work to keep him busy and he's only just starting to turn into a Hollow." Lisa said. "I can't wait till I get my last round and I get to fight him when he has completely turned into a Hollow."

"Don't get ya hopes up Lisa, I don't think he's _that_ strong."

"Just wait till it's your turn, Hiyori, he's going kick your arse if you underestimate him."

"Heh, that ain't gonna happen, Lisa." Hiyori replied.

But Hiyori wasn't so sure of that when Kensei almost flew through the barrier when Ichigo who was turning more and more into a Hollow punched him in the face with his white claw-like hands covered in red patterns. Hiyori looked uncertainly from Kensei to Lisa, who was smirking at her with a knowing look.

At the same time Ichigo met his inner Hollow in his Inner World. Apart from his evil smirk and white colour his inner Hollow looked exactly the same as Ichigo.

**_"Yo, long time no see, King."_**

"Where's old man Zangetsu?" Ichigo asked looking around for the familiar face of his Zanpakuto spirit.

**_"You still haven't figured it out, have you? Zangetsu and me are both the same, when our power changes, our appearance will change as well"_**

They are both the same and their appearance changes according to who is more powerful? Ichigo thought while mimicking his inner Hollow who grabbed the hilt of his daito. I guess there's nothing to it but to beat him and get more powerful then.

Ichigo charged forward and attacked his inner Hollow, but it was to no avail as his attack got blocked and his inner Hollow kicked Ichigo away. Damn it, Ichigo thought. I have to finish this quickly, or he might get more powerful than me. I think Bankai is in order here, Ichigo thought while he pointed his sword towards his inner Hollow who mimicked him. The both of them concentrated hard and screamed 'Bankai' at the exact same moment, before charging towards each other again. Their blades clashed as they dashed through Ichigo's Inner World.

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Lisa was watching Hiyori as she fought with Ichigo, his Hollowfication was steadily advancing now. His arms were now almost completely white and his Hollow hole had already formed on his chest. Hiyori had a few cuts and bruises on her arms and legs, but other than that she seemed to be doing fine. At the rate he was growing stronger, Lisa guessed she had to use her Vaizard mask in order to fight against him without getting severely injured when he was almost completely Hollowfied. He was a truly powerful Hollow, indeed.

"Okay, okay you were right." A slightly wounded Hiyori said when she sat down next to Lisa after she was replaced by Mashiro who started landing a few heavy kicks on Ichigo. He would be very bruised indeed if she started to use her famous Mashiro kicks on him. "He _is_ powerful, I don't envy you, Lisa. I wouldn't like battling him when he is at the end of his Hollowfication."

Lisa snorted at the girl. "I kinda like the challenge, I'm sure the fight will be better than the one Shinji put up yesterday, he didn't even cut me once before it was over. How is he anyway? I haven't seen him since yesterday. Did Hachigen heal him up?"

"Yeah, he did. Shinji's going to be alright. He lost quite some blood, though." Hiyori said. "I couldn't have done a better job to be honest."

They started talking about the lame excuse of a man Shinji was when a surprisingly uninjured Mashiro sat with them. Hiyori kept going on and on about how annoying Shinji could be and that she wished he would behave for once. But Lisa knew better, Hiyori liked the banter between her and Shinji, that much she could tell.

A few minutes later they were distracted by Love's cry of pain. He had a big gash on his left cheek where Ichigo's claw had hit him. He cursed before continuing the fight, wondering if he should use his Vaizard mask. He decided against it and after a few more minutes it was time for Lisa to step in for the last round. She hoped Ichigo would overcome his Hollow, it would be a waste if he got devoured by it and they had to kill him.

Lisa got up to replace Love and the other Vaizards wished her good luck as they took in the now fully transformed Ichigo. His Hollow mask looked like a menacing skull which was pure white apart from three red stripes on the right side of his mask above his golden-yellow eyes. Ichigo had claw-like hands and feet and a long, thin tail. The rest of his body was white and although he greatly resembled a slender lizard, you could still see the outlines of his muscles. The most intriguing part of the Hollowfied Ichigo however, were all the red patterns that ran all over his lizard-like body.

"Here goes nothing." Lisa said smirking as her diamond-shaped mask started forming. She had quite a unique mask. The top of her diamond-shaped mask curved backwards reaching over the top of her head and instead of eye and mouth slits, she had a cross-shaped hole in her mask where she could see through.

She charged at the raging Hollow and cut him in his arm, this didn't had the desired effect, though. The wound instantly healed and he only seemed to get more angry with her. Damn that high-speed regeneration she thought wryly. She had to use her increased speed she gained from her Hollow mask to keep avoiding Ichigo. He really was on a rampage and in need of blood.

Her blood.

Not if I can help it though she thought, but suddenly Ichigo cocked his head slightly and raised his arm in the air, pointing three clawed fingers to her. She cursed when a crimson Cero was forming in front of his fingertips. She had to shoot her own dark-blue Cero to counter his, but she was blasted back against the barrier from the chargeback. Ichigo walked over to her and began charging his second Cero, but this time he didn't get to finish it as Ichigo seemed to have controlled his inner Hollow.

"I'm the King, you bastard." He said when he shed off his Hollow form and collapsed on the ground.

---|---|---

(*Swirl, Shouta)

_And chapter five is done!_

_I hope you liked the chapter, please R&R!_

_Yonda_


	6. Chapter 6: Catch me if you can!

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Bleach or any of the characters.

_**Bruuz: **__It looks like Shinji certainly had a Death Wish! I'm glad you liked Isshin's Shikai and a sealed Zangetsu. I was hesitant at first, but it turned out pretty good in the end. I got some plans for the two Daito's planned next chapter so stay tuned! And after checking the last part of my previous chapter again I have to agree I rushed it a bit. So I edited a bit, I hope you like it!_

_**Lycodrake: **__Yeah, I definitely agree with you on the slender Hollow. That steroid junk is gone and replaced by a Hollow that focuses more on Ichigo's true strength; speed. I'm also doing more with Ichigo and Lisa now, but I don't want to rush their relationship just yet. And about your new story, I'll definitely check it out, I'm positive it'll turn out to be a great story and I love unusual pairings so I'm curious as to what you're going to do with a Sun-sun/Ichigo pairing!_

_**DarkJason: **__Thanks for the awesome review! It looks like you can read my intentions very well so far, hehe. Most of the questions you asked will be explained in this chapter!_

_**Gagboy: **__I'm glad you liked the sword Isshin has, since no one knows what his Shikai is like I decided to try something like this, and it's good to know it's appreciated. Also, just so you know, in the Anime episodes Ichigo never had a long mane of orange hair in his Hollow form. He did have it in his fight with Ulquiorra in the later chapters of the Manga. And yes, Shinji feels pretty useless right now, but that's his own fault for messing with Lisa!_

_**MKTerra: **__Shinji got his ass whipped pretty badly indeed! And about the colour of Ichigo's daito, let's just say I have some plans for that in the coming chapters._

**Chapter 6:**** Catch me if you can!**

Tatsuki was lying in Soifon's bed, she had insisted she sleep in it and not in the cave where they'd trained for the past few days. Her Captain was such a kind women. Technically she wasn't her Captain yet though, but Tatsuki liked to call her that, anyway. She had wanted to join her squad right away since she wasn't going to the Academy, but Soifon had told her she wanted to wait with that for a little while.

Why, though? She thought, it's not like I'm very strong or anything, not yet at least. But I'm not weak either, and I'll keep training! When the time comes she'll introduce me to her squad so I can grow even faster. With that in mind Tatsuki had agreed to wait for a little while, and had started training as if her life depended on it. She wanted to grow strong so she could help Soifon out in the war against Aizen and the Arrancar as soon as possible. But most of all she wanted to kick the asses of the two men who'd killed her in front of Ichigo's eyes. She hoped he had gotten away from them, she knew he was strong and most likely also a Shinigami, but she could tell those two men were the big deal. No, he couldn't have beaten them alone. I haven't seen him once in Rukongai while I was here, though. So I guess he must be alright. I can spot that orange hair from miles! If he was dead I must've seen him already.

Tatsuki didn't know very much about the Arrancar and Aizen yet, though. She had heard quite a few things about Aizen and what he'd done when he betrayed Soul Society, but she knew nothing of his motives, and what he exactly wanted to achieve with his army of Arrancar and Espada's. There was going to be a lot of bloodshed, that much she could tell, but other than that she didn't know much. Even though she was curious Tatsuki didn't mind that she didn't know everything yet. It was not like she could do anything in her current state, anyway. She would grow stronger and then she would ask Soifon to tell her everything she knew.

A soft snoring sound caused Tatsuki to look up, and she saw her Captain sleeping in a chair in an awkward position. Her neck is going to hurt when she wakes up she thought chuckling a bit. Tatsuki, who wanted to get some early morning exercises in, got up and dressed herself in her training outfit. Just when she wanted to leave the quarters to go to the training grounds she remembered that if she was seen by the 2th squad members now there could be trouble They would think she had snuck in Sereitei and treat her as the enemy.

Not wanting any trouble, Tatsuki decided to stay in the quarters and laid the sleeping form Soifon in her bed. After making sure she was covered by the blankets, she took the chair where her Captain had just been sleeping in. She'd just sat down when a black cat snuck in the quarters through the window. The cat looked at her with big round eyes expecting to be patted. Tatsuki complied and started patting the cat for a few moments before enveloping it in a bone-crushing hug with a grin on her face.

The cat who hadn't expected that shouted in protest. "Let me go, you're supposed to pat me not crush me to death!" Yoruichi said, expecting a reaction similar to the one Ichigo and his friends had given her when they heard the cat talk for the first time.

"Don't tell me you're afraid from a little hug…" Tatsuki said when she finally released the cat. "Yoruichi."

"W-what did you just say?" the cat asked amazed, how did the girl know who she was?

"Oh c'mon, you don't expect me to train with Soifon for a few days without knowing every little detail about you, Yoruichi. Soifon is very fond of you, you know."

"Still, she's not supposed to tell everyone all my secrets." The cat said a little annoyed. Yoruichi had hoped to see a shocked face, but instead the girl knew everything about her. Thanks a bunch, Soifon. She thought sourly.

"Yoruichi?" Soifon's sleepy voice asked a little confused.

"Hey, Soifon." Yoruichi said, while transforming back to her human form. She looked up at the unknown girl, hoping to see at least a surprised expression when she appeared in front of her completely naked, but she was disappointed to see that the girl merely sighed and went to get some clothes for her.

"Dress yourself before you catch a cold, Yoruichi" The girl said when she came back and threw some clothes towards the purple-haired woman.

"Gah, you're no fun at all! I wish Ichigo was here, his reaction was priceless. He's so easy to tease." Yoruichi said smiling at the memory as she began dressing herself.

Tatsuki's eyes had grown big with shock. "Ichi…go?" She asked uncertainly.

Yoruichi eyed the girl suspiciously. "You know him?"

"Know him? He was one of my best friends when I was still alive!"

Now it was Yoruichi's time to be surprised. "You don't mean?... Are you…Arisawa Tatsuki?"

"How do you know my name? Did Ichigo tell you? Is he still alive?"

"So this is where you ended up then Tatsuki, I'm glad Soifon found you. When we discovered you were killed by those two Espada, we knew you would have a rough time in Rukongai, that place is hell for people with high spiritual powers. And to answer your question, Ichigo is very much alive. He's training his arse off right now to avenge your death and to stop Aizen."

Tatsuki sighed with relief. "Thank god, I was afraid he'd be killed as well, does he know I'm in Soul Society?"

"I don't think so actually, but I can tell him next week when I come back to Karakura Town."

"Please don't tell him!" Tatsuki said a little harder than she intended. "I mean, I'd like to surprise him when the time comes, I want him to acknowledge me as a strong fighter and Shinigami. He's been keeping all this stuff away from me, I want to grow strong and show him that I can become a strong Shinigami as well."

Yoruichi smirked before addressing a sleepy Soifon. "I like that girl, Soifon. You may keep her." Soifon nodded sleepily as if she needed Yoruichi's permission for that. Yoruichi looked now straight at Tatsuki before continuing. "I won't tell him if you don't want him to know yet, but you know he's going to have a heart attack when he sees you again don't you?" Yoruichi asked her smirk never leaving her face.

"Serves him right for not telling me anything all this time." Tatsuki responded. "And who are those Vaizards by the way? Soifon hasn't mentioned them to me."

Soifon eyes shot up and was suddenly wide awake. "Vaizards? Who're they?"

"Yamamoto never mentioned them?!" Yoruichi fired up, getting angry at the old man. "They're the people that I saved together with Urahara and Tessai. They were in advanced stages of their Hollowfication and were ordered to be executed. Urahara saved them when we got back to the Real World. They can now control their inner Hollow and are teaching Ichigo to do the same."

"Ichigo has an inner Hollow?!" Tatsuki and Soifon asked in unison.

"Yes, he has, he went to the Vaizards so he could learn how to control and fight with it. He has already learned how to control it by now I think."

"Damn that boy, I barely know anything he has done as Shinigami…" Tatsuki said sadly.

"That has to be solved then Tatsuki. What do you say? Do you want to come to a party with me tonight and take a rest from training? I can tell you everything I know about Ichigo's life as a Shinigami."

"How can you have the peace to go to a party and relax? I have to train for the war, or I'll never be able to be helpful at all!" Tatsuki all but yelled.

"Calm down, calm down. Shouting won't bring you anywhere. You've been training days on end without much sleep at all, Tatsuki. A small break will do you good, I'm sure you'll enjoy it. I want some people to meet you there as well."

"But…" Tatsuki said hesitantly.

"No buts, Tatsuki. You have to come with me. Consider it a present for your acceptance in the Covert Ops. With the rate you're improving your fighting skills I don't doubt you'll be promoted very fast."

"Wha…? Are you serious?"

"Of course I am, unless you don't want to join the Cover Ops."

"Are you crazy? Of course I want to join the Covert Ops! This is what I've been training for. I'll join you to that damned party tonight and take a little break, Soifon. But tomorrow we're going to train again. I want to grow strong, there's a damn war coming up and I want to be ready for it!"

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Ichigo was taking a break from his training together with the other Vaizards. They were sitting against a few rocks and ate their lunch in silence. It was very tiring to train together with Hiyori, all she did was yell at him and pound him into the ground. She didn't seemed to be focused on the actual training he was supposed to get. He couldn't keep his mask on longer than 3 seconds, because the moment it was on his face Hiyori launched a bunch of powerful attacks on him, causing his mask to shatter on impact. That girl should work more on her temper.

Shinji was mostly the one who got her beatings, but since he was still recovering from the fight he'd had with Lisa he wasn't available for Hiyori at the moment. And obviously she was angry about that and she directed that to Ichigo, of course. He'd told her that it wasn't his fault that she couldn't release her anger on Shinji now and that she should fight with Lisa if she wanted to punish someone. But Hiyori ignored him and had only started to fight harder and more viciously.

Ichigo thought it was good to have a big challenge, but wouldn't it better to first learn how to use the mask for longer than 3 seconds before pounding him into the ground? The training was going nowhere at this rate. Maybe it would be better if he asked for another trainings partner. Someone who suited his fighting style more and could teach him how to keep his mask on for longer periods of time before going all out on him.

"That boy has no talent whatsoever! I don't know why we're helpin' him, I can tell from the little trainin' we've had today that he has no potential, he can't even keep his mask on for more than three seconds!" Hiyori suddenly shouted to no one in particular. Causing the Vaizards gathered around her to sigh.

"You're annoying, drop it Hiyori. You might succeed in training him if you learned him how to keep his mask on. All you've been doing so far is kick the brains out of his head. I'm no genius, but even I can tell that that's not going to work."

Ichigo was surprised and angry at the same time. He was angry at Hiyori for shouting this crap when he was right next to her, but most of all he was surprised at Lisa for backing him up. He didn't know she could be like this. Until now he had always thought she was a dangerous, mysterious girl who was always reading her Manga. He knew that if she got annoyed that could be your last days on earth. Ichigo didn't think even the Vaizards knew her well. She didn't talk much and everyone tried to avoid her when she was reading her Manga for some reason. Yes, she was certainly dangerous, but it seems she can be kind as well.

Ichigo's anger finally got the best of him. "Oi! I'm right here Hiyori, if you got a problem with me just say it right in my face, fangtooth."

That wasn't the best thing he could've said. Hiyori got up grabbed her sword and attacked Ichigo. When he saw her coming he hastily grabbed his sword in his left hand in an attempt to block it. He managed to deflect her attack just in time, but his sword was sent flying in the process and clattered on the floor a few meters away. Before Hiyori could strike again she was restrained by Kensei.

"Stop it Hiyori, you're supposed to train him, not kill him."

"He can forget the trainin'! I ain't gonna train someone who calls me fangtooth. He's even worse than Shinji."

"Who's worse than me, stupid? A rather weak voice from the distance called out to her.

"Shinji!" Hiyori exclaimed. "What're ya doin' up already? Ya ain't supposed ta be walkin' 'round already, dickhead."

Shinji sighed, she never changes. "Hachigen told me ta do a few light exercises today, I ain't gonna train or somethin' yet." He said while throwing Ichigo's sword back to him.

Lisa suddenly looked up when she saw Shinji throwing a daito to Ichigo, that sword looked very familiar. His daito had a black hilt, but the rest was exactly the same as hers apart from his scabbard, that one was the same blue as her own hilt. That's odd, why didn't I notice this before? If our swords are alike, maybe our fighting skills as well? All Zanpakuto's resemble the wielder's strength after all. When I fought him as a Hollow I certainly noticed he makes much use of his speed, just like me and on top of that he's very strong as well. It doesn't hurt to train with him a bit to see if our skills match each other. I'm sure I can teach him how to maintain his Hollow skull for longer periods of time at least.

"Hiyori, can I train with him a bit? I want to see what he's capable of."

"What? You want ta train with this wuss? He ain't capable of anythin'!"

This angered Lisa a bit, it was true he hadn't shown them much yet apart from his Hollow, but with the proper training he can be a good fighter. Lisa took a deep breath to keep her voice in control as she replied to Hiyori. "I don't think so actually, Hiyori. Give me one month and I can make him stronger than you."

"Ha! Sure, go ahead Lisa. He won't even be able to scratch me after one month."

"We'll see about that." Lisa said smirking. "But don't you forget, Hiyori, Shunsui trained me for years before I became a Vaizard. He's still one of the strongest Captains in the Gotei 13."

Ichigo was nearly pissing his pants. He finally got rid of Hiyori as trainings partner, but instead of getting someone with whom he could train with without getting killed in the first three minutes, he got Lisa. Sure, she stood up to him and was a little kinder than he expected, but she's still freaking dangerous. She's going kill me! He'd seen her looking at his sword when Shinji gave it back to him. He didn't like the gleam on her face when she noticed the similarity between their swords. Why can't Kensei or Love train with me? This is going to be one hell of a month. If I survive to live the whole month, that is.

Ichigo looked Lisa in the eyes who replied with an evil grin as she pulled her sword out of her scabbard. Ichigo wanted to disappear right on the spot, she doesn't waste even one second does she? But instead of using the sword to attack him straight away she grabbed it by the hilt with two hands, and pushed the whole blade into the ground. Only the hilt was visible now. When Ichigo looked at her questioningly she motioned him to follow her example.

"You won't be needing your sword for at least the next ten days, Ichigo."

"What? How am I supposed to fight without a sword? Hiyori will kill me within five seconds!"

"Oh, you won't be fighting her without your sword, Ichigo. But before you're going to use it I have other training plans with you. Now stab your sword into the ground next to mine, it's only going to be a bother this week."

Ichigo didn't dare to question her openly so he followed Lisa's example and pushed his sword into the ground. The two hilts sticking out of the ground next to each other were barely distinguishable in the shadow of the rocks.

"And now, Ichigo, we're going to play a game of tag."

"We're going to play a game of tag? How is this going to be a training?"

"This is no ordinary game of tag, Ichigo. We're going to play it with our Hollow masks on. This is the best way to increase the time you can keep your mask on and of course it also increases your speed. I haven't met anyone who could match my _true_ speed so far, so I want to see how fast you can get, you might even be able to keep up with me for a little while when I'm done with you." Lisa said, her evil grin still on her face. "To make it more fun for you, I won't use my Hollow mask while chasing you, unless you can catch me of course. You're allowed to use Shunpo or anything else you might come up with. We'll switch places every fifteen minutes, or when the other is caught."

All the Vaizards looked at Lisa wondering if she was mad, catching someone with a mask who uses Shunpo without putting your own mask on is nearly impossible. Even if Ichigo is still not able to keep his mask on very long. And was this true speed of her she was talking about? This was going to be interesting indeed.

Ichigo nodded at Lisa. "I'm going to be the first one that can match your speed, Lisa." He said with determination as he moved his hand in front of his face and a Hollow mask formed. Forgetting his fear for the woman, he sped after her when she was done with the countdown.

"Show me your speed, Ichigo. Big words won't bring you anywhere!"

---|---

Tatsuki was walking next to Soifon and Yoruichi on their way to the 13th squad barracks. Tatsuki had been busy with Soifon all day, they'd had to fill in all the necessary paperwork to let her join the Covert Ops and after that she'd met all the other members from the Covert Ops. It had been very uncomfortable under the scrutiny of all the members, but most of them seemed nice and even though they hadn't heard anything about her they accepted her in their midst. Tatsuki also got her own quarters now which meant she never had to sleep on the floor in their training cave again. The cave wasn't very uncomfortable the silence was nice and at least she had a place to sleep, but Tatsuki had to agree it was quite nice to have a soft bed and her own place to stay.

The 13th squad barracks were not that far away from her own quarters, so she tried to enjoy the silent night before they arrived at their destination which was bound to be filled with noisy people and a lot of music. Tatsuki didn't mind going to parties, but right now she'd rather be training. She didn't even know who was giving the party and why, she'd asked Soifon earlier today, but she had said it was a surprise. So Tatsuki kept walking, eager to find out who it was.

When they neared the 13th squad barracks they could already hear the music coming from the party. That was when Tatsuki remembered the promise her Captain had made to her this morning. "Soifon, do you remember your promise you made this morning? You said you were going to tell me everything you knew about Ichigo's life a a Shinigami, and also where he went in the summer."

"Yes, that's right Tatsuki." Soifon said. "But that has to wait a little bit, I'll tell you everything about him once we're inside."

Tatsuki sighed. "Alright, alright. But you better keep your word or I'll beat it out of you."

Soifon merely smirked at her as they entered the barracks, on their way to the noise and Tatsuki's surprise.

"Ah, Soifon. I'm glad you could come on such short notice. And my, my Yoruichi! I didn't expect you here. Welcome, welcome. Oh, where's Omaeda by the way? Did he have a mission?"

Soifon smacked her forehead. "Damn it, I knew I forgot something. Oh well, he knows the party is today so he'll show up when he gets hungry and if he doesn't it's his own fault." Soifon said feeling a little bit sorry for her Vice-captain. She'd almost completely ignored him ever since Tatsuki showed up. Nothing to do for it now, though. "Oh I wanted you to meet someone I met, Ukitake, this is Arisawa Tatsuki, I met her when I was on my way back to Sereitei after my mission in Karakura Town. She has been training with me a lot since we've met each other."

"I see, it's nice to meet you Arisawa Tatsuki, I hope you'll enjoy the party. If you're training with Soifon I can imagine you need a little break." He said, smiling at the girl in front of him.

"Thank you, Captain Ukitake, I'm sure I'll enjoy the party." Tatsuki answered politely.

"Tatsuki…? Why are you here?!" A familiar voice from the doorway called out.

"Rukia? What're you doing here?"

"Did you two meet each other before?" Ukitake asked Rukia.

"Yes, we did. I met her in Karakura Town, she was a friend of Ichigo. Why are you here Tatsuki?"

"I died in the Arrancar attack in Karakura Town and some afro guy sent me to Rukongai. I collapsed on the street from lack of food, but Soifon found me and she's been training me ever since. But why are you here, Rukia? Are you a Shinigami as well?"

Rukia's eyes widened at Tatsuki's revelation of her death. "Yes, I'm a Shinigami as well, Ukitake has recently promoted me to his Vice-captain. He insisted that we give a party, I'm glad we did now." Rukia said as she looked at the girl in front of her.

Tatsuki looked at Soifon in surprise who nodded at her, indicating that this was the surprise she'd planned. Tatsuki instantly knew this was also the person who could tell her everything about Ichigo's life as a Shinigami. "Oh! Congratulations, Rukia. I didn't know it was your party." Tatsuki said, looking back at Rukia.

"Thank you, Tatsuki, now let's join the party. I want to hear everything about the training you've gotten from Soifon. It looks like you're growing pretty strong already.

---|---

Ichigo panted heavily as he was lying on his back. Lisa had been too fast for him, again. They were going at it for hours now, and even though Lisa was getting tired as well he still hadn't been able to even touch her when he was chasing her with his mask on. He could keep his mask on longer now, but it still wasn't nearly enough for a battle. How can Lisa be so fast? I know I'm pretty fast and my speed increases a lot when I use my mask, but she can catch me without any problems and she isn't even wearing her mask yet! But still, Ichigo had to admit he liked this training method much more than he thought he would. He kept increasing his endurance with his mask on and his speed kept going up as well. This was by far better than Hiyori's method for sure. He also thought Lisa wasn't that bad after all. She could still be outright scary, but that was only when you deserved it.

It looked like he and Lisa did have the same strengths. He hoped he could match her speed eventually. Ichigo sat up and leaned on his arms, still breathing heavily. How long have we been chasing each other now? It's annoying I can't see the sky here, but I guess it must be getting really late soon. He looked around to see were the other Vaizards were, but he couldn't find them anywhere. They must've gone upstairs already. I think it's quite boring watching two people play tag all day long.

Lisa looked up from her Manga when she heard Ichigo sitting up again. He was looking around for the other Vaizards. That boy has no sense of time at all, Lisa thought smirking before she got up and walked over to him.

"They already went to bed, Ichigo."

"Now already? What time is it?"

"It's almost two in the morning."

"That late already?" Ichigo said, and as if it just realised it was that late as well, his stomach started growling.

"Looks like you're not the only one who has trouble telling what time it is." Lisa said laughing. "I'll fix us something to eat, you just sit still and catch your breath."

Ichigo nodded and did just that as he leaned his back against a few rocks and closed his eyes. Lisa walked over to the stove and started making something to eat. The boy was improving very quickly. He could already run with the mask for three minutes. She guessed it wouldn't take that long before she needed to use her own mask. I hope he gets close to my _true_ speed, I haven't met anyone who could, the other Vaizards don't even know how fast I really am. If everything went alright he would certainly be able to beat Hiyori in one months time, but there was a lot they had to do before he could do that.

Lisa was glad he seemed to like her training, she was sure their strengths were almost the same. But he still had to improve a lot if he wanted to fight Aizen and his army. Maybe it would be good to learn him some of the other things I've learned from Shunsui Kyouraku. It's not something just everyone can achieve only by training a lot, but she thought he'd be able to do it. I'll try to teach it to him when he gets a bit faster.

When she was finished with the food she walked to Ichigo who seemed to be almost asleep and shoved his plate of food under his nose and sat down next to him.

"Wake up, you lazy bum. You need to eat something."

Ichigo suddenly jerked awake and smelled the delicious food she had placed under his nose. He began eating straight away, wanting to train a little bit more before he went to bed. He managed to get a few words of thanks in between two bites as he was attacking his plate of food. She smiled at him appreciatively and began eating as well.

"Up for another round?" Ichigo asked when they were done eating.

"If you've got time to talk you should be running, Ichigo" Lisa said while she grinned at him and started to chase him again. Ichigo immediately jumped up and ran for it while his mask was forming. He heard Lisa coming after him as he sped over a few rock formations and made a few sharp turns, hoping it would slow her a bit. It didn't help much, though. She caught up to him in just a few seconds again. Ichigo saw her coming in the corner of his eyes and used Shunpo to gain a little distance again. He wished he had stopped for the day after he had eaten as he was starting to feel very tired again and had trouble with running. His mask soon started cracking up and Lisa gave him a soft punch on his left shoulder as she caught up to him.

"I think it's time for you to go to bed, Ichigo." She said laughing as Ichigo crashed to the ground. When he didn't gave some witty response, she turned him over and saw he was sleeping. "Poor kid, he's too tired to even walk to his bed. Maybe we should've stopped a bit sooner."

Lisa scooped Ichigo from the ground, carried him up the stairs and laid him in bed. She looked at his face and saw that his eternal scowl was gone. He was such a funny guy, this is the first time I see him without that scowl on his face. What does he want to prove with that look really? That scowl is exactly the same as Hiyori's. Lisa sighed and walked to her own room. Before she left his room she turned around and looked at him once more.

"Goodnight, Ichigo."

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They could hear the music playing at the party as Soifon, Ukitake and Yoruichi were sitting in the dimly lit quarters of Ukitake. Yoruichi was talking with with him as they drank sake, but Soifon was feeling a bit tired and couldn't concentrate on the conversation. It was getting late and many people had already left. Soifon was wondering what was keeping Tatsuki so long, the girl had been talking together with Rukia for hours now. Surely there wasn't that much Rukia could tell her about Ichigo's life as a Shinigami? She sighed, at least Tatsuki was relaxing and seemed to be having a nice time. She'll have to train very hard if she wants to join the fight against Aizen and his army.

"Soifon," Yoruichi said suddenly, distracting her from her thoughts. "How is Tatsuki's training going? Do you think she'll be able to fight against Aizen when the time comes?"

Soifon looked up before answering. "I'm not sure, Yoruichi. She's a fast learner and a good fighter, but I don't know if there's enough time for her to improve her fighting skills in order to be able to fight the higher Arrancar and Espada."

"I think there's a way to ensure that she'll be able to fight with you against Aizen." Yoruichi said with a mischievous glint in her eyes. "I'll come by tomorrow after I completed the necessary preparations here to help Urahara with the tasks he's been given by Yamamoto, and tell you my plans for the girl. I think it's for the best if the two of you go back now and retire for the night. Tatsuki is going to need her sleep for tomorrow."

Soifon wanted to know what the task Urahara had been given exactly was, but was too tired to ask right now. I'll ask her tomorrow, she thought. Soifon mumbled a goodbye and walked out of the quarters in search of Tatsuki. This didn't prove to be very hard, she followed the music and quickly found Rukia and Tatsuki sitting in a corner talking with each other. When Tatsuki saw her Captain walking towards her she jumped up.

"There you are, Soifon, I've been looking for you everywhere. I wanted to ask you if we could go back to our own quarters. I want to be well rested so I can start training again tomorrow, it's getting pretty late now."

"I wanted to ask you the same, Tatsuki." Soifon replied. "Yoruichi said she had a special training schedule for you tomorrow, knowing her it'll be very hard so I think it's for the best if we went to bed now."

Tatsuki nodded and they both left after saying goodbye to Rukia and congratulating her again on her promotion to Vice-captain.

When they walked outside they breathed the cool evening air, and slowly walked towards their own quarters. Soifon was happy to notice that Tatsuki was in a good mood, it seemed that talking with Rukia had done her good.

"Thank you for taking me to the party, Soifon. I really enjoyed talking with Rukia again."

"No problem, Tatsuki. I'm glad you enjoyed the party. Goodnight."

"Goodnight."

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The echo of hurriedly taken footsteps could be heard as a cloaked shadow sped through the halls of Las Noches. It slowed down and stopped in front of the door leading to the research centre led by Szayel Aporro Granz. The shadow looked to his left and right to be sure no one was watching, and entered the door. Inside it was a complete mess, all kinds of items and objects lay sprayed across the floor. This must be the room where he keeps his failed projects, the shadow thought and it walked across the room before entering the next one, hoping the items it sought would be there.

This room was much more tidier than the previous, all the objects were neatly stacked on shelves and small tables. After a few minutes the cloaked figure found the items it had been looking for and quickly put the two items in the pockets of the cloak it was wearing. The mysterious figure left the room quickly afterwards, hoping to be back before anyone noticed the missing items, it wouldn't do to be caught out of Las Noches when there were items missing. If everything doesn't work out the way I want it too I might even be able to put it back in place before anyone notices its absence. The figure sped through the hallways again and made a Garganta just outside Las Noches, it would be troublesome if anyone inside heard the noise of the ripping sky when the Garanta was made and went to check it out.

After the Garganta had closed behind the cloaked person, Aizen smiled wickedly inside his chair. Everything was going exactly as he had planned.

---|---|---

_And here's chapter six!_

_This one took a little bit longer than I had planned, due to the fact I edited the last part of my previous chapter a bit. Please tell me what you think about this chapter, and if you haven't read the edited part of my previous chapter yet, please do so!_

_R&R!_


	7. Chapter 7: Manipulations

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Bleach or any of the characters.

_**Grinja: **__Aizen certainly has some plans. Most of it will be explained in this chapter, Lisa and Ichigo are certainly getting some more time together and in my AN at the end of this chapter I got a questions considering the two of them!_

_**Lycodrake: **__Who it was that robbed Szayel of his precious items will be explained in this chapter! I hope you like it. As for your new fic, I'm looking forward to read it!_

_**DarkJason: **__I'm glad you like both the training and the development between Lisa and Ichigo! And how is it you can read me so well? ;p You always seem to be the first person who knows all the little schemes I've planned. And about your question; like I told Grinja I explained it in the AN at the end of this chapter._

**Chapter 7:**** Manipulations**

His boots thumped on the ground as Ichigo ran through the streets of Karakura Town at full speed. What is this Reiatsu? The force of it was insane, maybe I should've woken the others up after all. I should be okay with the training I've had so far, but you never know. I still can't fight together with my inner Hollow very well. There was almost no one outside on the streets as Ichigo sped to his goal. I'm sure as hell a lot faster than before though, he thought. Thank you for that, Lisa!

It had been 5 'o clock in the morning when he had woken up with a feeling of dread in the pit of his stomach. He'd only slept for about three hours, normally he would still be asleep, especially considering the fact that he'd trained very hard and long the previous day. Ichigo hadn't thought he could go back to sleep now that he was awake, so he had gotten up, dressed himself, and walked outside for a quick jog before the rest of the Vaizards woke up. Just as Ichigo walked outside in the cool morning he heard the ripping noise of the sky and felt a heavy Reiatsu force entering Karakura Town. It was still pretty dark outside so he wasn't able to see the sky clearly and pinpoint the location. He was pretty sure a strong Hollow or even an Arrancar had just entered through a rip in the sky. He concentrated on the spirit force coming from whoever it was that had just entered Karakura Town, and after a few seconds he knew it had to be somewhere near the forest.

Ichigo had wanted to go to the unknown presence straight away, but as he reached down to grab his sword he remembered that it was still in the basement. He cursed and ran back inside. Sorry Lisa, but I really have to use my sword right now he thought grimly. He ran down the stairs, grabbed his sword, sheathed it in the scabbard lying besides it, and ran back outside.

Ichigo felt he was closing in on his target as he ran past the dojo, into the forest. It's just like last time when those two powerful guys showed up he thought. Is this one of them? If it's that Espada who killed Tatsuki I'm going to kick his sorry ass. If he doesn't kill me first, of course. I'm much more powerful than I was before, but that guy seemed to be really strong. Can I beat him in my current state? At least I've got a chance now. I won't have an annoying Hollow shouting in my ear this time. The reason I lost last time was because my inner Hollow distracted me and I lost sight of that Espada.

Ichigo ran out of the forest into the clearing where he had encountered the two Espada last time, and saw a cloaked figure hanging in the sky. When it spotted Ichigo it descended until it reached the ground. Ichigo could tell from the posture that it was a man. The foul Hollow aura it had also confirmed his suspicions that this was an Arrancar. And a damn strong one as well. Damn it! I really should've woken the other Vaizards up. They're going to kill me if they find out I went looking for strong Arrancar alone.

"Yo, Ichigo." The Arrancar said, lowering the hood from his cloak. He had light blue spiky hair and eyes with green marks underneath them. The fragments of his Hollow mask were visible on the left side off his face, and resembled his jawbone. When the man threw his cloak aside, his ragged, white jacket became visible. He wore his jacket open, showing off his Hollow hole near his abdomen.

"H-how do you know my name? Who are you?" Ichigo asked as he looked at the man in front of him.

"I'm Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez, Sextra Espada." The man said with a big grin on his face.

"What is it with these Espada and those numbers?" Ichigo asked remembering the introduction Ulquiorra had given him.

"Oh? Ulquiorra didn't tell you? He really should learn some manners. We, the Espada, are the top off the Arrancar. All Arrancars got numbers assigned to them in the order in which they are created, but the Espada got numbers whom refer to their strength, number one being the strongest, and number ten the weakest."

"So that means Ulquiorra is stronger than you, right?" Ichigo asked.

"That is correct, but don't get your hopes up, Ichigo. I'm still much stronger than you are even if you've managed to control your Hollow powers." Grimmjow continued as he intently watched Ichigo with a smirk on his face.

Ichigo's eyes grew wide at this revelation. "How do you know about my inner Hollow?" He asked shocked, just how much do these Espada know about him?

"I overheard Aizen talking with Ulquiorra the other day, they were talking about your inner Hollow and how you should've managed to control it by now. Ever since Ulquiorra mentioned his fight with you, Aizen suspected you had an inner Hollow. He didn't take the effort to kill you right away, though. He doesn't think you are much of a threat to him and his plans." Grimmjow said smiling at a growling Ichigo. "I however do have plans with you," he continued. "You see, I've been fighting other Hollows ever since I became one in order to become as strong as I am now. But apart from the Espada there's no one who can match my strength at the moment. Aizen has forbidden us to fight amongst each other, so I'm getting pretty bored in Hueco Mundo. You can imagine how put off I was when Ulquiorra was allowed to go here and get all the action instead of me."

Ichigo was getting more angry by the second, how did this bastard dare to talk like that? Did he really only want to fight? Didn't he have a purpose for his fights other than chaos and destruction? Ichigo was pulled back to reality as Grimmjow started talking again.

"I was very mad at him, of course, but I kept myself to my promise to Aizen, and instead of fighting I started eavesdropping on his conversations. A few days ago Szayel Aporro Granz visited Aizen and they talked about a project that he had just finished. This project consisted of a pair of rather powerful items that can be used on Shinigami or Hollows that have breached the barrier between the two. This means it can only be used on people like you or Arrancars. I know you've got potential, so I stole these items and I'm going to use them on you. It'll increase your powers, thus enabling me to enjoy a fearsome battle without directly ignoring Aizen's orders." Grimmjow finished.

Ichigo couldn't believe what the Espada had just told him. He had stolen these weird items from someone named Szayel Aporro Granz for the sole purpose of making _me_ stronger so he can have a good fight? "Are you out of your mind?!" Ichigo shouted. "Do you really think I'm going to cooperate with you only because you want to fight? It's not going to happen!"

"Not going to happen? But, Ichigo, it already is happening." He said with an evil smirk.

Ichigo who had just felt something cold closing on his left wrist looked down and saw that Grimmjow had somehow clasped a thick chain bracelet on his wrist. The bracelet was silver and it had a small black stone in it. Damn, when did he do that? He's fast. Without my mask on I'm no match for him. He trembled with rage, just how far did that Espada go for fighting? Ichigo grabbed his sword and a white substance was forming in front of his face. That bastard had to die.

The moment his mask had formed Ichigo felt something was terribly wrong. He felt his bracelet react and the stone started to glow and turned white. What the hell is that thing doing? Ichigo thought as he felt a blinding pain in his chest. It felt like his Hollow powers were forcibly being pulled out. He tried to get the bracelet off, but it wouldn't budge.

---|---

Lisa suddenly woke up and sat up in bed, feeling thirsty. She decided to get a drink before trying to sleep again. not much chance there, though she thought. It was very rare for her to fall asleep again once she'd woken up. Lisa walked towards the kitchen to get a glass of water when she noticed something was off at Ichigo's bedroom door. Why is it open? I'm pretty sure I closed it when I brought him to bed after our training. She walked over to his room and glanced in his chamber. She was surprised to see that his bed was empty, that boy really doesn't know when to stop she though, thinking he had gone to the basement to train again. He really should try to sleep more.

Lisa drank two glasses of water before returning to her own bedroom and got dressed, if Ichigo was training it would probably be for the best if she joined him. As she walked down the stairs to the basement she couldn't find him, though. She looked everywhere, but there was no sign of the orange-haired boy in the basement. Hmm that's odd, why would he train somewhere else? Lisa walked over to their usual eating spot and saw only one hilt sticking into the ground.

Damn it, why would he leave together with his sword? I better go and check it out. She grabbed the hilt of her own sword and pulled it out of the ground. She walked back up the stairs and silently walked outside through the barrier that stopped all the Reiatsu from going in or out. This was when she noticed two heavy forces of Reiatsu. One was definitely a strong Arrancar or maybe even an Espada, but the other one was weird. She was sure it resembled Ichigo's, but something was off. It resembled a Hollow's Reiatsu far more than it always did. This smelled like real trouble. Lisa's Hollow mask formed on her head as she sped towards Ichigo. You really can't even have one moment of rest with that boy.

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Ichigo screamed out in pain as Grimmjow sliced his shoulder. He was finally getting a bit used to the pain in his chest that was caused by the weird bracelet that Grimmjow had put around his wrist. He certainly felt much more powerful now the pain had subsided a bit, but he also knew that the bracelet could be dangerous if used incorrectly. Ichigo focused his attention on Grimmjow again and was happy to notice he could follow his speed now, his eyes were finally getting used to him. Grimmjow charged forward once more, but Ichigo dodged the attack and slashed his sword into Grimmjow's undefended side, ripping his clothing. Ichigo was surprised to see that his attack didn't drew blood, though. Is his skin made of steel? I'm sure I hit him!

Grimmjow laughed at Ichigo's confused expression. "This," he said pointing at the side where Ichigo had hit him. "Is what we call a Hierro. The Hierro of most Espada is almost impenetrable, it protects us against most attacks. You really have to try better than that if you want to cut me."

"I have to try better, huh?" Ichigo said as he felt his Hollow powers coursing through his veins. "Let's see how you like this. *Kiri haraimasu, Zangetsu!" Ichigo screamed as he unsealed his Zanpakuto, revealing his cleaver-like sword. Ichigo started slashing and hacking at the Espada, but his sword couldn't penetrate his Hierro completely. There were scratches and red marks all over it, but still not a single drop of blood.

"Pretty good, Ichigo. But if you really want to cut me I advise you to use your Bankai. I can see that that item I gave you is doing its work, normally I would even get a single scratch from those attacks. But I see it strains your body as well, your precious Hollow skull is already cracking up."

"Like I'd need something like that to kill you, bastard!" Ichigo screamed before kicking him up in the air by using his increased speed he gained from his Hollow mask. Ichigo then followed him and prepared to slam him into the forest, but Grimmjow who got angered by Ichigo's attack turned in mid air, grabbed him by his arms and flung him back into the forest. Ichigo coughed up some blood as he hit the ground and winced at the pain in his back. His Hollow powers and the bracelet dulled the pain, but he wasn't able to control them very good yet; his Hollow skull was almost completely gone already.

Grimmjow really wanted to see his Bankai so he decided to give Ichigo a little taste of his Cero. He stuck out his hand and his Cero started forming, but before he could fire it at the boy he felt a very hard fist connecting with his face and he flew straight into a thick tree.

"This is as far as you go, Espada." The menacing voice of Yadoumaru Lisa rang out.

Grimmjow's face broke out into a wide grin, two against one, and the girl looked to be part Hollow as well. This could turn out to be quite interesting he thought as he started charging his second Cero, but before he could finish this one a ripping noise could be heard and Grimmjow was stopped again, this time by the restraining hand of Ulquiorra. "That's enough, Grimmjow. This were no orders from Aizen-sama, you're coming back to Hueco Mundo to await your punishment." He said, his face as impassive as ever.

Damn it, he thought, I've been caught. I hope they didn't find out about those bracelets yet, that Ichigo better learn how to fight with it the next time I meet him. I didn't go through all this trouble for nothing. "Oi! Ichigo," he shouted. "You better remember this face, because when we meet again I want a real fight, between you and me!" After making sure Ichigo had heard him, he followed Ulquiorra to the Garganta and went back to Hueco Mundo.

"Oi! We're not finished yet! Come back Grimmjow!" Ichigo shouted, but it was already too late, Grimmjow was gone. He turned around to look for Lisa, he hadn't expected her to show up during the battle. But instead of her concerned face he saw the underside of her boot and he crashed to the ground blood steaming over his face. Hello to you too, Lisa. He thought as he bowed under her wrath.

"What the hell were you thinking, Ichigo?! Running off on your own fighting Espada's! Do you want to get yourself killed?" She yelled at him.

"Ouch, don't get so worked up all of the sudden. How was I supposed to know he was an Espada? I woke up in the middle of the night and wanted to go for a jog when I suddenly noticed this big ass reiatsu. I didn't know what he wanted to do here so I grabbed my sword and came here as fast as I could. I know I should've woke up some of you, but I was kinda in a hurry." Ichigo said, apologising.

"So you suddenly noticed a strong Reiatsu and you went to meet him here at once instead of waking one of us up?" She asked trying to control her voice, but Ichigo could still hear her anger in it.

"I'm sorry, okay? It won't happen again, it wasn't my idea of warm-up practice in the morning." He said scowling.

Lisa chuckled a little. "Alright, alright. I don't like what you did, but I guess you panicked and did the first thing that entered your mind. But you better wake me up next time something like this happens or I'll do more than just kick you in your face. You can ask Shinji what that feels like." Suddenly she saw something shimmer around Ichigo's wrist. "What's that around your wrist by the way?"

Ichigo suddenly jumped up and jerked the bracelet from his wrist. "That Espada did this around my wrist before we started fighting, I couldn't get it off until now. I think it reacts to my Hollow mask, because I didn't feel anything until I used my Hollow mask, the bracelet started to glow and the stone turned white. And now my mask is gone it turned black again. He said he only used it on me so he could enjoy the fight more." Ichigo said, feeling a bit annoyed. "All he wants to do is fight and since Aizen has forbidden the Espada's to fight amongst themselves he stole this bracelet from someone in Hueco Mundo so he could put it around my wrist. I certainly did feel more powerful, but I think this bracelet can be quite dangerous if used wrongly."

Lisa looked at the tiny bracelet with disbelief. "So he actually gave you a powerful weapon you can use only so he can fight more?" She asked.

"Yes, something like that. It's a shame there's only one. Even though this thing can be dangerous, I think that if we can learn how to use it correctly it can be damn useful." Ichigo said as he started walking back towards their hideout.

"Ichigo, what's that there on the ground?" Lisa asked as she pointed to a bundle lying on the ground.

He walked over to where she was pointing and saw the cloak Grimmjow had been wearing before the fight lying there. He lifted the cloak and saw something falling out of it. Lisa walked over to him and picked it up. It was another bracelet. "Well be damned." He said.

"What are we going to do with these?" He asked her.

Lisa was staring at the little bracelet lying in her hand and felt the power radiating from it. "These things can be quite dangerous, Ichigo. I think it is for the best if keep them a secret from the others and try to fight with it on a later date. I think you have to control your Hollow powers before you can really use them."

Ichigo nodded his agreement. "Yes I think it's for the best if no one knew about these bracelets. Let's keep them hidden and try to figure out what their purpose is later on. C'mon let's go back, if we hurry we can make it back before the rest wakes up."

Lisa smirked at this and sped away. "You can go faster, Ichigo. If you think we're cancelling the training because of this little incident you can forget it."

Ichigo sighed before chasing after Lisa, that girl never changes.

---|---

It was early in the morning when Tatsuki was walking to soifon's quarters. Even though she went to bed very late last night after the party, she had awoken pretty early, eager to start her training again. Soifon had said that Yoruichi had a special training planned for her, what could it be? Tatsuki figured it was probably very hard, otherwise Soifon would do it herself. She walked past a few members from the Covert Ops and greeted them happily. Tatsuki was glad that she finally had more people with whom she could work with. I hope I can help the Covert Ops out after my training with Yoruichi, I want to know how good the rest is.

After the short walk she knocked on the door leading to Soifon's quarters. "Soifon are you here?" Nothing could be heard behind the doors so she knocked again a few times. Just when she started to get a little worried about Soifon a soft sound could be heard, and the door opened revealing the head of a very sleepy Soifon.

"Wuz goin' on?" She mumbled, barely able to keep her eyes open. "So early."

Tatsuki hid a chuckle behind her hand and walked inside. Maybe I'm a little too early after all, but I just can't help it. I want to start this special training right away! "Wake up Soifon! It's a beautiful day for training don't you think?" She asked cheerfully.

"Ugh, why are you so early, Tatsuki?"

"Why? Because I'm getting a special training schedule from Yoruichi of course! I have to work hard to get ready in time. I'm not going to train only so I can wait safely inside because I'm not ready to fight against Aizen's army yet."

"Okay, okay." Soifon said as she splashed some water in her face. Tatsuki really resembled herself when she was younger. Yoruichi was her idol back then and she did everything to train with her. "We'll go to the cave a bit earlier and get some light training in before Yoruichi arrives, but let me get dressed first okay?"

Tatsuki nodded and waited impatiently as Soifon got dressed and got ready for the day. Why can't she dress herself faster? It takes ages! I hope we get there before Yoruichi I want to get a warm-up before I start training with her.

Ten minutes later the two of them entered the cave, ready for some serious training. Tatsuki was delighted to see that Yoruichi wasn't there yet, they could still get a warm-up training in before the real work starts. The two of them went into the basement and started like they usual did. The both of them liked Hand-to-hand combat more than sword fighting so they left their swords on the ground and started fighting without them. Soifon, who didn't want to kill Tatsuki right away, held a bit back, but she still fought with enough force to give Tatsuki a hard time, though.

"You can do better than that, Tatsuki!" Soifon said after a while as she landed kicks and punches on the girl and started to drive her into the corner. Tatsuki noticed this right away and rolled to the side, when she got up again she started the counterattack. Tatsuki pushed her master back a little with a heavy kick before she could properly defend herself. Just as Soifon got hold of the situation again and wanted to make it a little harder for Tatsuki she noticed Yoruichi sitting a few meters away.

"Yoruichi! How long have you been watching?"

"Long enough to see the two of you fight, and I have to say I'm glad with the results. Tatsuki can fight pretty good considering the fact that she only recently started her training." Yoruichi said grinning. "But still, she has to improve a lot before she can fight in the war and we're a little short on time. In a few months the real fights will begin."

"If Tatsuki here wants to grow strong enough so she can fight with us, I'll have to borrow her for a few days and give her a heavy training. This is necessary to give her the power she needs in battle." Yoruichi said eyeing the girl. Tatsuki nodded in response indicating that she was ready for whatever heavy training Yoruichi had planned for her.

Yoruichi smiled at the girl. "Before we start you have to know that this training can be very dangerous, if you don't complete the task in three day-…"

"I don't want to know what happens then, I'm ready for the training Yoruichi!" Tatsuki interrupted.

Yoruichi grinned at her, Ichigo had told her he didn't want to know what would happen if he didn't finish the task either, they really were very much alike. "Very well. Tell me, Tatsuki." Yoruichi asked. "What do you know about Bankai?"

---|---

"And where have the two of you been this night?" Hachigen said eyeing both Ichigo and Lisa suspiciously as they entered the hideout again. Damn it, Ichigo thought, I had hoped we would be back before anyone woke up. Luckily it's not Hiyori, but this could still cause some problems, if they find out about the bracelets this could turn out quite nasty. Ichigo was frantically looking for excuses he could use as he looked at Hachigen's stern gaze nervously.

Lisa just looked at Hachigen annoyed and sighed. "You're annoying Hachigen, we were just training outside, of course. Or did you think we were doing something else, huh?"

Ichigo blushed a little at what that could mean. That girl is crazy for suggesting things like that.

Hachigen looked a little uncomfortable as well as he tried to give Lisa a decent answer. "Err, I dnno really… I mean, I just thought… the two of you were suddenly gone…and…" he stuttered.

"Stop that already." Lisa said. "It ain't cute when an old fart like you stutters like that."

"Right… I'll go and make some breakfast then." He said as he walked to the stairs leading to the basement "The others will be awake soon as well."

Lisa walked towards the still blushing Ichigo and laid her hand over his forehead. "My, my, Ichigo." She said with a smug smile on her face. "You're very warm do you know that? I think you've got a fever. No more outdoor activities in the cold mornings for you or you really might get sick."

Ichigo scowled at her. "Shut it you." He said, but he couldn't help the small grin that was forming on his face. "But I do have to thank you for getting us out of that situation without having to tell him anything about those bracelets."

"Oh, I know how you could thank me, Ichigo." She said wriggling her eyebrows at him suggestively.

"Wha…? Forget it, Lisa. I'm not going to thank you with whatever it is that's in your head right now." Ichigo said a blush creeping over his cheeks again. "Come let's go downstairs and help Hachigen with breakfast."

Lisa followed him with a smile on her face. God, he was so easy to tease. Training with him was going to be one hell of a fun month.

Some fifteen minutes later they were all sitting against the rocks on their usual spot, and silently ate their breakfast. Ichigo was thinking back at his battle with Grimmjow. That bracelet really had some weird power, he definitely felt himself stronger, but he couldn't really work with it very well, yet. He hoped it wasn't too dangerous to fight with it. He knew he had to grow a lot stronger if he wanted to beat the Espada's, but he was going to use everything to his advantage, even if it was given by the enemy.

And then there was Lisa, to say he was surprised when she was teasing him was an understatement. This was the silent girl who was always reading her Manga and almost killed anyone who would do so much as touch it? He had never imagined she could be like this when he had first seen her. If he liked it or not, he didn't know. She was still downright scary and dangerous at times, so I'm not sure what to think of her, but I like to train with her and I'm definitely going to beat her today! I want to see that _true_ speed of hers.

Ichigo suddenly jerked back to reality as Hiyori's face was inches from his face. He could count the flying specks of spit as she was yelling at him "Oi, dickhead! I'm talkin' to ya, don't start driftin' off inta space when I'm sayin' things to ya!" She shouted angrily. Ichigo had been ignoring her as he was deep thought for the past few minutes. "I want ta give ya a warnin', ya better train hard if ya wanna fight with me next month. If I look at yer clothin' I can tell you're getting yer ass whipped by Lisa when she's not even wearin' her mask. You ain't got no chance against me if ya don't improve fast!" She said looking at his bloody clothes. Lisa had healed the wound on his shoulder on their way back, she wasn't the best healer around, but at least the wound was closed and the bleeding had stopped, but Ichigo hadn't been able to change his clothing yet.

Before Ichigo could give her a nasty retort Lisa had already walked over and pulled Hiyori back. "You're annoying, Hiyori. I told you he's going to beat you next month so shut up and let the boy eat before we begin our training."

Hiyori frowned even deeper than Ichigo and sat back down next to Shinji. He tried to calm her down a bit, but his attempts only earned him a hard slap in his face from her sandal.

Ichigo laughed at the sight and quickly finished his breakfast. He got up and walked to the back of the basement together with Lisa, ready for the training. Before they started Ichigo looked at Lisa with a glint of determination in his eyes and told her what he had promised himself. "You better be prepared, Lisa, at the end of this day you will need your mask to keep up with me."

"Pretty confident, aren't we?" She replied. "Well, let's see if you can keep that promise of yours, I'll chase you first."

---|---

"Welcome back, Grimmjow." Aizen said as the Espada bowed in front of him, awaiting his punishment. Grimmjow knew he shouldn't have gone to the Real World, but he hated doing nothing all day here in Las Noches. He was made for battle, not for sitting still all day. Stark was the one who could sit around, not him.

"You may leave, Ulquiorra. I'll deal with Grimmjow alone." Aizen said when Grimmjow didn't give a reply.

After Ulquiorra had left Aizen spoke again. "Grimmjow, is it correct to assume that you went to Karakura Town on your own and had a fight with Kurosaki Ichigo, even though I've never given such orders?"

"Yes, I did, Aizen-sama. But I merely wanted to get rid of the boy for you, he may not be a threat to you right now, but over time he could grow strong and become a bother to your plans." Grimmjow said, hoping Aizen would fall for it.

"Then why, Grimmjow, did you steal two precious items from Szayel Aporro Granz and lost them in the Real World?"

Grimmjow flinched, how did he know that he had stolen those bracelets? He even knew he didn't have them anymore.

"It would do you good to remember, Grimmjow, that nothing inside these walls goes unnoticed by me. Now tell me the real reason why you went to Karakura Town and fought with that boy, I can see straight through your filthy lies." Aizen said staring down at the blue-haired Espada.

Grimmjow swallowed before he started talking again, there was no point in lying now. "The real reason I went to Karakura Town was because I wanted to have a good fight, ever since I became an Espada I haven't found anyone who could give me a good fight, besides the other Espada's of course, but we're not allowed to fight with each other. I stole the items from Szayel so the boy could become strong very fast. I really wanted to have a tough fight, without going against your orders and attack my fellow Espada. And because you said that the boy is no threat to your plans at all, I thought it would be good to fight a bit with him." Grimmjow said dreading his punishment more by the second.

"So you just wanted a challenge during your battle Grimmjow?"

"Yes, Aizen-sama."

"Then why didn't you say so? You wouldn't have had to go through all the hassle. I could've helped you with your goal."

Grimmjow hadn't expected that, he looked up in surprise and gratitude. I can get a good fight without having to rely on the brat and I'm not getting punished? But before he could voice his gratitude Aizen waved with his left arm and Tousen appeared in the doorway. He slowly walked to Grimmjow, unsheathed his sword, cut off Grimmjow's arm and destroyed it. Grimmjow cried out in pain as he clutched the bleeding remains of his arm.

"This should solve your problem, I think, Grimmjow." Aizen said smiling. "You will find fighting your way back to your position as Espada a lot more challenging with one arm. Luppi will fill your spot as Sextra Espada until you prove you are capable of that position again. Kaname, could you lead Grimmjow to his new quarters?"

Grimmjow wanted to attack Kaname Tousen right away, but wisely kept his cool and marched off with Kaname right behind him.

"You knew he was going to steal those items when you let him overhear your conversation right from the start, didn't you, Aizen-sama?" Gin's voice called out when Grimmjow and Kaname had left.

"Perhaps."

"He also would've done it if you had just asked him, Aizen-sama."

"Probably, but that would've ruined the game wouldn't it, Gin?" Aizen replied when Ulquiorra entered the room.

"Ah, Ulquiorra. Give me your report please.

Ulquiorra bowed before telling Aizen everything he had seen. "After Grimmjow left for Karakura Town I went to the Real World as well and followed him as I hid myself with that cape that completely hides your Reiatsu. The boy appeared a few minutes after I had spotted Grimmjow. They talked for a bit and then Grimmjow used Sonido to put one of the bracelets around the boy's wrist. Kurosaki Ichigo seemed to be in pain for a while, but it soon disappeared and although the boy got more powerful it didn't look like he could control it very well. After they fought for a while some girl with a Hollow mask came to help him and knocked Grimmjow away. I decided to step in and made a Garganta and destroyed the cape before I stopped Grimmjow and took him back to Hueco Mundo."

"Very well," Aizen said. "Even though the bracelets are used in pairs I think it's safe to assume that the current Espada can wear them without getting killed as well. I think the more you resemble a Hollow the heavier it reacts. And the normal Arrancar can't control that power because they are more like a Hollow than the Espada's. Thank you Ulquiorra, you may go now."

Ulquiorra bowed and left the room. He hoped that Szayel Aporro was able to make a new pair of those bracelets very soon. He would like to see what they could do to his power.

---|---

Just a little longer, I can beat her! Ichigo thought as he sped past the rock formations that had been destroyed earlier in their training. He was clutching his Hollow mask with his left hand, it had already started to fall apart. Ichigo guessed he had to hold out for two more minutes until this round was over. If he could hold out until then he had kept himself to his promise! He desperately wanted to see how fast Lisa could get with her mask on.

Ichigo dodge Lisa coming from the side and made a sharp turn as more pieces of his mask went missing. One more minute, c'mon I can do it! Ichigo desperately clutched his Hollow mask but it completely fell apart now. A couple of seconds later he felt a sharp pain in his back and he fell panting to the ground. Damn it, almost.

"Very good, Ichigo. I think you really might make me wear my mask today. Let's take a break and try again when you've caught your breath again." Lisa said as she helped him up and they walked to their usual spot where the other Vaizards had been watching the two of them all day long. The Vaizards had already had dinner and everyone except Shinji, Love and Rose had already gone upstairs.

After Ichigo had sat down for a few minutes and his breathing had slowed a bit he got up. He had gotten hungry and wanted something to eat, he guessed Lisa must be hungry as well. "I guess I should be returning the favor now." He said to Lisa as he walked past her and went over to the stove to make dinner for the two of them.

Lisa who had just wanted to get up herself to make their dinner was surprised to see Ichigo walking to the stove. She didn't try to stop him, though. Instead she just shrugged her shoulders, grabbed a Manga and started reading while Ichigo was working behind the stove.

When Ichigo was done cooking he walked back with two plates, Lisa was still reading and hadn't noticed him yet. Ichigo set the plates down, grabbed her Manga and ripped it out of her hands flinging it to the side. "No time to read, Lisa. Dinner's ready!" He said smiling as he handed over one of the plates to her before realising what kind of problems this act could cause.

Lisa's eyes were ablaze when her Manga suddenly got taken away from her, she thought it was Shinji and had gotten ready to make him regret the day he was born, but when she looked up she saw the happy eyes of Ichigo as he told her dinner was ready and handed her over a plate of food. Lisa sighed, I'll get him for that later she thought.

Shinji, Love and Rose were looking at Ichigo with big round eyes. What the hell? That kid had just touched her Manga, flung it aside and he was still breathing? She didn't even attack him! This sure is weird. "Well be damned!" Shinji whispered to Love and Rose in shock. "How the hell is it he isn't even hurt after touchin' that thing? I almost died the last time I tried it, I'm still not completely recovered from that attack. I want ta train with that boy and learn how ta do that!"

"That boy is good." Love said in awe.

"He's going to get it when they resume their training, though." Rose said. "But I have to admit that he's braver than I thought he was."

When they were done eating Ichigo grabbed the plates and put them in the sink, ready to wash them off. But Shinji suddenly jumped up and told him he would do it. Ichigo was eager to start his training again so he didn't think anything of it and walked towards Lisa, his mask already forming. When Lisa saw him coming she jumped up right away and ran for it. These rounds are getting more dangerous by the minute she thought, I'm going to need my mask really soon.

And need it she did. After ten minutes of running Lisa noticed his mask still hadn't started crumbling, soon thereafter she made a sharp turn around a large boulder, but instead of following her, Ichigo ran straight through the boulder and when he came out of it he crashed into Lisa who had just rounded the corner.

Little stones from the now destroyed boulder flew past their ears as they tumbled across the floor. Ichigo quickly got up and cheered, glad he had finally caught her.

"No time for cheering, Ichigo." Lisa said as her mask started forming and she got ready to chase him. "It's payback time!"

Ichigo ran for it, but it was no use after only one minute she caught him already. She didn't lie, Ichigo thought. She really is fast. And she's probably even faster than this.

They chased each other in turns for a few more hours before deciding to stop. Ichigo had been able to keep up with her for a few minutes already, his speed was improving very quickly. Lisa was glad for that, that meant they could start fighting with swords pretty soon. He was going to hate the first exercise she had planned for him, but after he was done with that, it was going to get real, and they would work hard on his fighting skills so he could beat Hiyori when their battle came.

"Ichigo," she started as they walked towards their own bedrooms. "If you can match my speed in three days time, I'm going to teach you some things I learned from my previous Captain, Kyouraku Shunsui."

Ichigo smiled in response. "I'll beat you in two days!"

"We'll see, Ichigo." She said smirking. "We'll see."

---|---|---

* Cut down, Zangetsu!

_Chapter seven is done!_

_As most of you might have noticed already, I recently changed the rating of my story from M to __T. The reason I did this is because I'm not sure if I want to put a lemon in my first fanfic. I would like to ask your opinions on that! Do you think I should put a lemon in this story and why (not)? Please review and tell me your opinion on the matter, and also if you just want to tell me anything regarding this chapter, of course._

_I hope you enjoyed this chapter!_

_R&R!_


	8. Chapter 8: Reinforcements

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Bleach or any of the characters.

_First of all I want to thank everyone __who reviewed my previous chapter, I really appreciate the advice and nice words! _

_**DarkJason: **__Ichigo definitely got faster while training with Lisa, but he's one hundred years too young to be able to beat her at her true speed, hehe. As for the training he's going to get, let's just say he won't be very pleased with it at the start. And who said Tatsuki was going in Bankai training already? *evil grin* You'll read more about it in this chapter! And lastly: after your little inspirational talk and the comments from the other reviewers I've decided to make this an M story later on. Thanks for the advice and your tip! And I hope you'll like it._

_**Grinja:**__ It's true that a lemon isn't going to make or break a story, but of course it'd be nice if people liked it! Anyways thanks a bunch for the advice and I'll check your tip out as well._

_**MKTerra: **__Yeah, I've read all the Manga chapters from Bleach as well, Shunsui deserved it! And I'm definitely going to do something similar in my story._

**Chapter 8: Reinforcements**

Tatsuki was beyond rage, Yoruichi had just started to explain everything about her Zanpakuto when they were interrupted. A few men from the 12th squad had found them and they gave a message to Soifon and Yoruichi on their Captain's orders. Yoruichi's eyes had widened at the report and she had cancelled the training for the time being. Yoruichi had told her that they had to go to the 12th squad's Research and Development Institute right away. Tatsuki had protested and insisted that she wanted her training right now, but Yoruichi wouldn't hear any of it, she had agreed with Soifon that it might be better to take Tatsuki with them to the Institute, though.

The three of them were now running through the identical streets and buildings in Sereitei. Even though Tatsuki was angry because of the interruption she couldn't help but feel a little worried. What had those men told Yoruichi? It was probably something serious or she wouldn't have jumped up immediately and followed the men out. I hope Aizen isn't on the move already, I need more time to prepare myself for the war!

After two minutes they had arrived at the Research and Development Institute. Yoruichi and Soifon could've been there much faster but they held back a bit since Tatsuki didn't know where the Research and Development Institute was. Tatsuki was starting to learn Shunpo, but she was not even close to mastering it yet, though. Soifon had only taught her the basics in the time they'd been training. Shunpo was very useful during combat, but Tatsuki wanted to work on her fighting skills first. There was no use in mastering Shunpo if you couldn't even fight properly with it, after all.

As they entered the research centre of the Institute Tatsuki took in the surroundings. The room seemed to be crammed with all kind of devices and sensors. A small group of people stood in front of what seemed to be a huge radar. One man in particular caught her attention. The man had painted himself black and white and had blue hair which was styled into a pharaoh-like crown. The attachments to his ears and chin also contributed to that. When he waved his hand as he talked to the people in front of the radar Tatsuki could see he had one abnormally large blue fingernail. Tatsuki was disgusted by his looks and wondered if he had suffered permanent brain damage from a failed experiment or two.

"That is Mayuri Kurotsuchi, he's the chief of this Institute and also the Captain of the 12th squad." Soifon said as she saw her staring at the man. "He is kind of creepy, but he has helped Soul Society a lot ever since Aizen betrayed us. Thanks to him we also know some of Aizen's plans."

When they approached Mayuri he looked at Tatsuki intently.

"Don't you even think about it, Mayuri." Yoruichi said. "She's not someone you can use for whatever experiments you have in mind. She's here with us because she used to live in Karakura Town and I thought she wanted to know what you've discovered."

"That so?" He replied. "And how many times do I have to tell you that I want to be addressed as Kurotsuchi Mayuri or Captain Kurotsuchi?"

"Tell us what you've discovered, Mayuri." Yoruichi said ignoring his question. "The men who picked us up said something about an attack on Karakura Town?"

As soon as those words had left Yoruichi's mouth Tatsuki visibly paled. Karakura Town got attacked, again? Did they just randomly attack the town or were they after someone? If they were it was probably Ichigo. She hoped he was alright, she wouldn't forgive him if he died now, they had to fight together against Aizen, she had promised herself that!

"Yes, that's right." Mayuri said, distracting Tatsuki from her thoughts. "We recently created this new radar here." He continued, pointing at the radar in front of them. "It's sole purpose is finding Arrancar in the neighbourhood of Karakura Town. It appears that the town has been attacked recently by one or maybe two Arrancar, and not just ordinary Arrancars. Judging by their Reiatsu they were extremely powerful."

"Were there any people hurt during the attack?" Yoruichi asked, voicing the question that was burning on Tatsuki's tongue.

"We don't think so, the Arrancar haven't been Karakura Town very long, so they probably just went there to check some things out." The three women in front of him sighed in relief before Mayuri continued talking. "But in the slight chance they did have a battle there I want Urahara to look for any Reiatsu traces, and also tell him that he has to make sure that the Arrancar don't discover his Tenkai Kecchu, it's of utmost importance that it remains secret. If Aizen discovers it before the winter we might not be able to stop him."

Yoruichi nodded at Mayuri indicating that she would tell Urahara before she spoke up. "What if Aizen is going to keep attacking Karakura Town? I'm sure he's going to attack it a few times just to check if we've done anything with it."

"Yes, Captain-Commander Yamamoto said something similar as well. I believe Hitsugaya Toushiro will watch over the town on his orders, just in case something happens."

"Alright, thank you, Mayuri. I think we should go now, I have a few more matters to take care of before I can return to the Real World." Yoruichi said as she cast a quick glance at Tatsuki and winked at her.

---|---

Hitsugaya Toushiro leaned back in his chair as he rubbed his eyes. He had been working on his paperwork for the last few hours. He didn't like the work, but it was necessary. This very morning Captain-Commander Yamamoto had discussed a special mission with him. There had been another Arrancar attack on Karakura Town and the Captain-Commander thought that some extra protection for the town wouldn't hurt. Yamamoto had given him the task of going to Karakura Town in the evening. Toushiro had wondered if it wouldn't be better if he also took his Vice-captain with him, but Yamamoto had told him that Aizen wouldn't attack Karakura Town with more than two people at once, he was just checking on the town every now and then. It was nothing a Captain couldn't handle.

Matsumoto was going to have a hard time here, though. When he was gone she would have to do all the necessary paperwork on her own. She always ignored it and drank sake until she passed out on her chair or until he had done her part as well. The last time she did that she'd almost killed herself as she had fallen asleep facedown. That woman could be so annoying and childish at times. Despite all of that, though, she was a formidable Vice-captain who could handle herself very well in battles. It was a shame she wasn't working on her Bankai training, but then again, it was one of the hardest things to achieve as a Shinigami.

Toushiro stretched his back, got up and walked outside. It was almost time for him to go to the Real World. He had to get a Gigai at the Urahara Shop when he arrived there and then look for a place where he could spend the night. Luckily Matsumoto wouldn't be there to choose their sleeping arrangements, if you let her choose things like that you end up in the most awkward places. Where is she anyway? I'd better go and see if I can find her.

After a small search he found her at her own quarters, she wasn't alone, though. Kyouraku, Hisagi and Kira were sitting with her at the small table. When Toushiro looked down he saw the room was littered with sake bottles. They'd obviously been drinking… again. Toushiro walked over to the table and saw that the four of them were all sleeping. He covered his head with his palm before he tried to wake her up, this wasn't as easy as he'd thought, though.

"Oi, Matsumoto!" He shouted finally as he smacked her up the head causing her to bolt up knocking the back of her head against Toushiro's chin.

"Captain!" She shouted when she saw him.

When Kira and Hisagi woke up they covered their ears immediately as an avalanche of noise penetrated their ears. Toushiro was shouting at Matsumoto, berating her for drinking in the middle of the day.

"Ouch! Stop tha', it freakin' hurts!" Hisagi slurred when he couldn't take the noise anymore.

Matsumoto suddenly looked at him with big eyes. "Hisagi!" She shouted. "What're you doing here?" When she noticed Kira lying on the table with his hands over his head she looked confused. Then her eyes shifted over the still sleeping form of Kyouraku Shunsui and her eyes lit up. "Ah that's right, I invited you guys over her, didn't I?"

"Matsumoto, I'm going to the Real World to protect Karakura Town today." Toushiro said suddenly.

"Really? That's great!" Matsumoto said happily. "I've wanted to go there for ages, they got a lot of fancy clothes there!"

"I'm ordered to go alone, I can't take you with me Matsumoto."

"Nonsense! I'm going with you."

"You're only trying to come with me because you don't want to do all the paperwork on your own." Toushiro said a little annoyed.

They started bickering, again. And after a few 'shut ups' from Kira and Hisagi they finally stopped and Toushiro agreed to let Matsumoto come with him to the Real World. Although he didn't show it he was very glad she was coming with him. He really thought Yamamoto thought too little from the Arrancar attacks, some extra people to help him out would be pretty useful.

Just when the two of them were about to leave Toushiro looked at the snoring Kyouraku Shunsui. "Does he ever wake up?" He asked.

"Ah, there he is!" The voice from Nanao Ise called out from the doorway before anyone could reply.

"I've been looking for you everywhere! You said you had an important meeting with Yamamoto!" She said angrily.

"No use, Nanao." Matsumoto said. "He's in one of those alcohol induced sleeps again, I've never been able to wake him up from one of these naps. And believe me, I tried _everything_."

"Really? Then there's no helping it. I have to use the technique I learned from my master…" Nanao replied with a glint of determination and pride in her eyes.

Everyone in the room was silent as they watched Nanao preparing for this rare technique that her master had personally taught her. Nanao laid her book on the table and lifted Shunsui up a little so he was lying on the table without the aid from his chair, she then drew her arm back and lashed it forward, spanking his ass two times.

"No, Lisa-chan! Stop it! I'm awake, I'm awake." He shouted as he jerked awake.

When Kyouraku saw Nanao standing in front of him he realised that the time hadn't just gone back one hundred years. "Why did you have to use that vile technique on me, Nanao-chan?" He whined as he rubbed his sore butt.

Everyone looked at Nanao in awe as she smiled proudly to her prey.

"I'll have to remember that one." Matsumoto muttered as Nanao grabbed Kyouraku's earlobe and dragged him out of the room.

After making sure that Kira and Hisagi would take over the necessary paperwork from the 10th squad, Hitsugaya and Matsumoto left and went outside. Toushiro was glad that Kira and Hisagi had agreed to do their paperwork, but he thought they wouldn't have agreed to do it so easily if they hadn't been drunk. He was sure, though, that if they hadn't been drinking Matsumoto would've found other ways to… persuade them.

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When Toushiro and Matsumoto where walking towards the Senkaimon that would lead them to the Real World a few hours later, Toushiro suddenly stopped in his tracks, deep in thought. They were going to Karakura Town now, this was the town where Kuchiki Rukia had transferred some of her powers into the orange-haired ryoka before she got captured and was taken back to Soul Society. She'd only spent about two to three months there, she couldn't have built up a very good relationship with those ryoka while she was there, but still, all of them came after her and rescued her.

Toushiro had been amazed when he saw the fierce loyalty between the ryoka and Rukia, especially that Ichigo kid. He even achieved Bankai in order to defeat Kuchiki Byakuya and give Rukia a chance to escape together with Renji. At the time they all thought he was their enemy, but in reality he really was their best ally, and now they were going to help him save his hometown.

Only he and Matsumoto were going there at the moment, though. Toushiro couldn't help but think that this was a little odd. Why hadn't Captain-Commander Yamamoto ordered Rukia to go as well? Her Shinigami powers should be completely restored by now, and surely she is capable of handling herself. Otherwise she wouldn't have been promoted to Vice-captain by Ukitake. Yes, this was quite weird indeed. He decided to go to Rukia in the 13th squad barracks and ask if she wanted to come with them to Karakura Town. since they had built up a good friendship in such a short amount of time it would only be logical she would want to protect him and his town as well.

"Captain, why did you stop?" Matsumoto asked. Toushiro was standing still for a few moments now and he had been completely ignoring her. "What's the matter? Is something wrong?"

Toushiro suddenly looked up at the fearful face of his Vice-captain. "Don't worry Matsumoto, it's nothing serious." He began. "I just want to talk to Kuchiki Rukia before we leave for our mission in Karakuta Town, I think she should know about it since the people in it are very important to her."

Matsumoto looked a bit surprised when he told her that, but followed him toward Rukia's quarters anyway.

They sped past the numerous buildings in Sereitei as Matsumoto tried to keep up with her Captain. Damn it! Why does he suddenly want to go to Rukia? Is he going to take her with us to the Real World? It makes sense if you think about it. Karakura Town was were she met that ryoka kid who saved her, she would want to help him as well.

After a short while they entered the barracks of the 13th squad, and made their way to Rukia's quarters, hoping that she was there. Before they reached her quarters, though, they passed the Captains quarters and Ukitake poked his head out of the door and told them to come in. Toushiro wondered why Ukitake wanted to see them, but followed him inside anyway.

"You're probably wondering why I asked you inside, Toushiro." Ukitake began. "The reason for that is because I wanted to talk about my new Vice-captain with you, the two of you came here to see her, right?"

"How did you know?" Matsumoto exclaimed, her surprise clearly written over her face.

"Isn't that obvious, Rangiku?" Ukitake said. "I already thought the two of you would try to contact her before you left for Karakura Town. Not that it would've mattered if you didn't contact her before going through the Senkaimon, though. Rukia follows her heart just like Shiba Kaien always did. If she couldn't go to Karakura Town with you, she would've found another way to sneak out and go to the Real World. Isn't that right Rukia?" Ukitake finished as he opened the door again to reveal an eavesdropping Rukia.

"I'm sorry, Ukitake. I didn't plan to eavesdrop on you, but I walked past and heard you talking about Karakura Town and decided to stop and listen to you. Captain Hitsugaya, Vice-captain Matsumoto." Rukia said looking at the two in question." Please let me join you to Karakura Town, I want to help Ichigo and his friends there to protect them from the Arrancar attacks, I think they can use all the help they can get. Aizen won't go easy on them once he's set his eyes on them."

Toushiro smiled, she was right, he'd need all the help he could get to help Ichigo and his ryoka friends in Karakura Town. Aizen was dangerous, it would be foolish to underestimate him. "Are you sure you want to come with us, Rukia?" He asked. "It's true that we can use some help, but it's going to be pretty dangerous out there, those Arrancar are very powerful, and apart from that, you could get in serious trouble when the Captain-Commander finds out you left Soul Society and went to the Real World."

"Of course I'm sure! It's true they are powerful, but I can hold myself in a battle, the reason I wasn't promoted to Vice-captain earlier was because of Byakuya nii-sama, he didn't want to put me in danger because he had promised his wife that he would protect me, and even if I can save only one human from the Arrancars, I'll gladly take any punishment!" Rukia said a bit angrily, why was it that people still try to protect me? To her surprise, though, Toushiro merely smiled at her sudden outburst.

"That's good, Rukia. I wanted to know if your heart was fully in it, I wouldn't have let you come if you only wanted to go to Karakura Town because you felt you had to repay Ichigo. The two of you have a very good friendship, I admire that." Toushiro took a deep breath and looked from Rukia to Ukitake as he continued again. "If your Captain agrees, I would gladly take you with me to the Real World."

"Of course she may go, it's not like I could stop her even if I wanted to. Take care, Rukia. We'll probably see each other again when the real fun begins in the winter."

Rukia smiled brightly at her Captain and thanked him, she was glad he had faith in her. He had always been the man who had allowed the people around him to fight their own battles in order to let them keep their own pride. He never tried to save them all the time. Rukia was glad he didn't, and although she had wanted he could've saved Kaien-dono she knew he would never have been the same if he failed to fight his own battle for his and his wife's pride. Kaien really resembled Ichigo in the way he talked and interacted with her, this was probably also the reason she had become such good friends with the orange-haired boy. Yes, she definitely liked her Captain. Rukia was truly glad she entered the 13th squad.

"That's good to hear, Ukitake. We should get going now, Vice-captain Kuchiki Rukia, I need to visit Urahara Kisuke before we find a place to sleep." Toushiro said formally earning him a smile from Rukia.

The three of them left Ukitake's quarters and made their way to the Senkaimon, Rukia was eager to see Ichigo again, she'd heard he had been training a lot, she hoped she could see how powerful he had gotten since his fight with her brother. Rukia looked up and to her surprise she saw Captain Kyouraku standing before them with a sad expression on his face.

"What's the matter, Kyouraku?" Toushiro asked him. "Matsumoto is not going to drink with you again, you'll have to wait till after the winter for that."

"No, it's not that, I wanted to ask you a favour, Hitsugaya." He began. "Could you please tell my previous Vice-captain something? I'm quite sure she has contact with Urahara Kisuke in Karakura Town."

Toushiro rolled his eyes at Kyouraku, it was very obvious what he wanted to ask Yadoumaru Lisa, that man never gives up. "What is it you want me to tell her?" Toushiro sighed. It'd be for the man to give him the satisfaction of this favor, even though the answer was clear already.

"Could you please tell her I'm sorry that I never went looking for her, and that I want to meet her again?" He asked. "Oh, and if you could casually mention that I'm free that'd be great as well."

"Yeah, sure. When I'll see her I'll tell her, but don't get your hopes up, you know how she is with these kind of things better than anyone else."

"Thank you, Hitsugaya. I'd better go back to Nanao now, she'll have kittens if she finds out I'm gone again." He said, although he didn't seem to care at all. Toushiro wondered if he tried to get under her skin on purpose or not. He probably did since he liked all the attention from women he could get, no matter what kind of attention.

"Who was his previous Vice-captain?" Rukia asked when Kyouraku had left. "He seemed to be really fond of her."

"His previous Vice-Captain was Yadoumaru Lisa, I wasn't a Captain yet when she was around, but I heard she resembles his current Vice-captain, Nanao Ise. Lisa was the only person that could completely control Kyouraku and get him to move his lazy ass, back when she was still around people wondered if they shouldn't switch ranks, but despite his laziness Kyouraku is still the strongest Captain in the Gotei 13."

"Before you were a Captain? Does that mean that she was one of the people that disappeared together with Urahara and Yoruichi 100 years ago? Why does he think she's still alive? I heard that those people were Hollowfied and had been ordered to be executed immediately. Urahara had been accused for the Hollowfication, but now we all know who did that, of course."

"Yes, that's true, she was one of those people and everyone believed them to be dead, but Yoruichi came to the last Captain meeting and told us something very interesting. She told us that Urahara found a way to help those people and they can now fight as Shinigami with Hollow powers. It looks like they are similar to the current Arrancar but they are more like a human instead of a Hollow. They hate both human and Shinigami, but they are the enemy of Aizen as well so they're probably going to help us in the war. Yoruichi told us they call themselves the Vaizards; masked soldiers."

"I'm glad Urahara could help them." Rukia said with a smile. "It was wrong for Soul Society to sentence them to death without properly researching if there was a way to save them. They were the victims of Aizen's experiments, it wasn't like they were craving for power and obtained Hollow powers for that reason."

"I agree with you on that point, Rukia." Toushiro said as they turned around the corner and the Senkaimon entered their view. "But there's nothing we can do about that now. I hope we can accept each other for who we are, but the Vaizard have deep grudges against the Shinigami who rejected them for who they are, and I'm sure there are still some people amongst the Shinigami's who want to see them dead only because they have Hollow powers."

"Yes, I think you're right. I hope we can meet the Vaizards in Karakura Town when we're there. I want them to know there are still people who want to befriend them or at least accept them for who they are."

Toushiro nodded his agreement. Rukia really was a kind-hearted woman. That Ichigo boy was lucky for having such a good friend.

"Oi! Where do the three of you think you are going without us?" A familiar voice called out to them when they were standing in front of the Senkaimon.

"Ikkaku, Yumichika?"

"You didn't think you could go off and fight Arrancars without us did you, Toushiro?"

Toushiro sighed, damn that 11th squad. The people in that squad only wanted to fight as much as possible in the shortest amount of time. There was nothing he could do to convince the two of them to leave, and besides, it was good to have two more capable fighters with him if things got nasty. "Even if I tried I don't think I could. We have no time for your lucky dance, though, Ikkaku. We need to hurry, I have some things I need to do discuss with Urahara before it gets dark." Toushiro said as he entered the Senkaimon.

Ikkaku smiled at Toushiro as he vanished inside the Senkaimon and went through it himself. This was going to be a lot of fun. He hoped he could find any worthy Arrancar during his stay at Karakura Town. It'd been a long time since he had to use his Bankai.

---|---

Tatsuki panted as she dropped down to the floor, tired from the training. Until now she had never really fought with her Zanpakuto. She had always preferred to fight without it, and Soifon liked that as well so they had always trained that way, but Yoruichi didn't want to hear any of it and had told Tatsuki that she was only allowed to fight with her Zanpakuto from now on. Yoruichi didn't fight with a Zanpakuto, but she didn't need one to keep up with Tatsuki. She a good fighter and started pushing Tatsuki until she started releasing her spirit power during combat, which led to her very first Zanpakuto release.

So this is my Shikai Tatsuki thought as she sat up and leaned against the wall. If I had known this earlier I would've started training with my Zanpakuto right away. With this sword I can still fight without throwing away my own fighting style. I hope those cuts didn't hurt Yoruichi too much, though.

"I have to say you got a nice Shikai, Tatsuki. It suits you well."

"Thank you, Yoruichi. Does this mean I'm ready for that special Bankai training now? You said It could be done in a few days." Tatsuki said eagerly.

"I'm sorry, Tatsuki, but I can't let you go through that training right now. I have to go back to the Real World tomorrow morning and I'm not letting anyone go through that training without me. If something goes wrong and I'm not there it could turn out quite badly."

"But I have to get ready for the war!" Tatsuki said scowling.

"And you will, have patience, I promise I'm going to teach you how to achieve and use your Bankai before next winter. But first I want to talk with you about something else. I was quite surprised after our little training just now. Not only did your Zanpakuto spirit teach you a new skill just after you unsealed it." Yoruichi said as she waved with her left arm, showing the cuts on it. "But also the type is quite unique. You controlled it very good, Tatsuki and I think you might be able to learn some of my other skills. Just like me and Soifon you can control your Reiatsu very well. When I'm gone I want Soifon to teach you some things. This is very hard and dangerous, do not think you can just screw around during this training. You need to listen to Soifon and follow every instruction she gives you. If you don't it could turn out very badly for you."

Tatsuki thought it was very rare for Yoruichi to get this serious so she decided to take her words seriously. "Don't worry Yoruichi, I will follow her instructions very carefully."

"Just what do you want me to teach her Yoruichi?!" Soifon suddenly cut in angrily.

"You've seen her fight, Soifon. You saw the control she has. It's a very rare skill to control fire that precisely. I've seen it with my own eyes, she can do it. Not even Yamamoto has this kind of control. He can control fire very well, but he can't compress it, Tatsuki can. Trust me Soifon, she can really do it, believe in her. She might even be better with it than me."

"You better be right, Yoruichi. I'll kill you if something happens during the training because you lied to me."

Tatsuki didn't know what this was all about, she had never seen the two women this serious. What they wanted to teach her had to be truly dangerous and powerful. She hoped she would be able to learn it before Aizen made his move. "Don't worry, Soifon." Tatsuki said. "I can do it, I have to! Please tell me what to do, I want to begin training right away."

"The training will begin tomorrow, Tatsuki, I need to discuss a few things with Soifon considering the training she's going to give to you. I'm not sure what method she used so I want to make sure it's as safe as possible. Why don't you get some rest while we talk?"

"I don't have time to rest yet, Yoruichi. I'll go and train a bit with my Shikai." Tatsuki said, she was eager to learn this dangerous skill they were talking about, but she could wait a day, Soifon had to prepare for it after all.

"Don't overdo it, Tatsuki. Your going to need your strength tomorrow." Yoruichi said smirking.

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"Oi Lisa, Ichigo, get over here! Dinner's ready. The one who gets here last has to do the dishes!" Kensei shouted waving with his spatula. He turned around and made his way back to their regular spot, but was nearly knocked over when Lisa and Ichigo sped past him. What is it with that speed? Since when is Ichigo able to keep up with her?

"What're you spacing out for?" Lisa yelled at him. "If you don't hurry you'll have to do all the dishes yourself!"

"Oh crap!" Kensei said as he chased her and Ichigo, but he was no match for their speed and arrived last. "Damn it! I should've put my mask on before saying that." Kensei murmered.

Ichigo laughed at Kensei as he started eating with his mask placed on top of his head. Instead of destroying it when they were done with training like Lisa did he kept it on. It increased his endurance and he was able to move his mask now without losing the power he gained with it. Ichigo had been able to keep up with Lisa this training when she was wearing her mask today. He was getting very fast and he started to control his Hollow powers very quickly now. He didn't know why, but his training process seemed to have doubled since yesterday. Although he had been able to catch Lisa once already he knew that he still wasn't able to match her completely, she had told him that she would show him how fast she could get in the evening, when all the other Vaizards were upstairs.

"What're you laughing at you punk?!" Kensei yelled when he caught Ichigo laughing at him.

"Why do you always think everyone wants a piece of you, Kensei? I'm sure Ichigo didn't mean to offend you." Love said, trying to calm him down a little.

"Kensei is such a hothead!." Mashiro whined as she made one of her faces again.

"Shut up Mashiro, you piss me off."

Lisa sighed at Kensei, he could be so annoying once he started bickering with Mashiro. She grabbed a plate of food and thrust it in his hands. "Eat, Kensei. We don't have time for your bickering."

Kensei wanted to argue with her, but when he saw the warning looks everyone was giving him he decided to let it rest and started eating. If he started a fight with Lisa now he might not be able to eat at all for the next few days. It wouldn't be the first time she knocked out some teeth over a small argument like this.

The next few minutes everyone concentrated themselves on their dinner and didn't say a word until Lisa looked up at Ichigo and noticed something was off with his mask. She didn't know what was wrong with it, but somehow it looked a bit different than before. "Hey, Ichigo." She began. "Can I see your mask up close? It looks a bit different, I can't exactly tell what though. It's still the same, but somehow I know It's different."

Ichigo looked at her questioningly but he pulled off his mask and handed it over to her before finishing his dinner quickly. He got up and laid his plate in the sink and sat next down next to Lisa who was holding his mask in her hands trying to find out what was wrong with it. "Found anything yet?" He asked.

"No, not yet. This is very weird, It looks the same, but I can tell something is off. Your mask is still the same menacing skull and still has the red lines at the-…"

"What's he matter? Did you find something, Lisa?"

"Tell me Ichigo," Lisa said ignoring all the looks they were getting from the other Vaizards who had stopped eating as well. "How many red lines did your mask have when you first controlled your inner Hollow.?"

"I think I had three lines on the right side of the mask above the eye."

"How many lines do you see now, Ichigo?" She asked pushing the mask in his face.

"Hmm that's weird, it has five lines now, since when did the mask get two more lines under the eye? Is it normal for masks to change a little once they've been made, Lisa?"

"It never happened with our masks, but the circumstances in which we turned into Vaizards are different. We were completely turned into Hollows in one night after Aizen had performed his experiments on us, but your Hollowfication took a lot more time. That could be an explanation, but why would it start changing, though?"

"I have no idea, but I felt I've been improving faster since yesterday, could these extra red lines be the cause of that?"

"It's a possibility, but I don't think we can know for certain, not yet at least." Lisa said as she gave him his mask back. "Now let's get going again. If we work hard today, we might be able to go to the next training tonight or tomorrow morning at the latest."

Ichigo's eyes widened, he really hoped they would. He was getting tired from those games of tag. He wanted to really start fighting.

"Good luck with the dishes, Kensei!" Ichigo and Lisa said laughing as they sped away and resumed their training.

"Those two!" Kensei fumed as he looked at their retreating backs.

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Rukia smiled brightly when she followed the others towards Urahara Kisuke. She was glad she was able to join Toushiro and Matsumoto to Karakura Town. Even though she had only been here for a mere three months this town felt like a second home to her. She wondered how Ichigo and his friends were doing, they probably had had a hard time dealing with Tatsuki's death, especially Inoue and Ichigo, but Ichigo was probably training very hard by now so he could avenge her. Rukia couldn't wait until she saw everyone again, but they first had to go to the Urahara Shop because they needed some supplies there before they started their mission to watch over the town.

After a few minutes they neared their destination. Rukia looked up when she saw a very familiar figure waving with his fan in front of the Urahara Shop. Rukia sighed, that man never changes.

"My, my, what a pleasant surprise! Come in please." He said cheerfully.

"Do you really think I believe that? I'm sure you knew Soul Society would send some reinforcements here to watch over the town, so the surprise couldn't have been that big, Urahara."

"Yes, you're quite right, Toushiro. I knew Yamamoto would send some help after the past events in this town. I didn't think he would send more than two, however."

"It seems you are right as well, Urahara." Toushiro said. "He only send me, but these people here wanted to help me too, so I let them join me."

"That so? Yamamoto seems to underestimate the danger this town is in. Just because the Hougyoku is not at full power yet he thinks Karakura Town isn't in any danger." Urahara said a bit annoyed. "Now let's get started then, shall we? You're lucky I got some extra Gigai's you can use while you're here, Toushiro. I assume each of you also need an artificial soul for fighting purposes as well?"

"Yes, that'll be everything we need for today."

A few minutes later the five Shinigami's were in their Gigai's. Ikkaku kept complaining that he felt restricted inside his Gigai, but other than that everything seemed to be alright.

"It better be a good Gigai this time, Urahara. If it's the same as last time you'll be very sorry." Rukia said. She knew he had meant well when he gave her the Gigai that would turn her into a human so that the Hougyoku was safe, but she would have preferred it if Urahara had told her about it."

"Yes, it is. I'm very sorry for what I did, Rukia. I just wanted to keep the Hougyoku safe and I was afraid you would refuse to help me if I told you beforehand. I got a little present to make up for it, though, why don't you check your artificial soul?"

Rukia gasped when she saw it. "Chappy the rabbit!" She all but yelled with big, round eyes. "How did you get your hands on this one? They're very popular!"

Urahara smiled at her gratitude. "It cost me a fortune, but it was the least I could do."

"We should get going now." Toushiro said when he looked outside. "It's getting dark outside and we still have to find a place to sleep for the night."

"All of you can stay here tonight if you wish, it'll be easier to find a place to stay tomorrow."

"Are you sure that's alright, Urahara? Do you even have the space for that?" Toushiro asked uncertainly as he looked around.

"Of course I do! Let me show you the guestroom downstairs," Urahara said as he walked to the ladder leading to the basement. "Ururu and Jinta will set up the beds there when they're finished with cleaning."

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Ichigo slowly limped back to their usual place so he could rest a bit before continuing his training with Lisa. He was able to keep up with her when she was wearing her mask now, at least that was what he thought. It happened just after the other Vaizards went upstairs. He was chasing Lisa and had almost caught her when she suddenly turned in mid-air. She smirked at him wickedly and a static sound could be hear when she vanished from his sight. He was standing there looking confused when she appeared next to him and knocked him into a large boulder, he wasn't even able to follow her with his eyes.

"You alright, Ichigo?" Lisa asked smirking, he had been the first to see her at this speed, not even the other Vaizards had seen it.

"Yeah, I'm okay. I just didn't think you'd be that fast, I couldn't even follow you with my eyes. What is that technique it's not Shunpo is it?"

"It's called Sonido, it's similar to Shunpo. It's not something just anyone can learn. Besides me this skill is only known by the Arrancar and Espada. If you can master this technique well you're able to outrun Shunpo easily."

"Can you teach me how to use it? The sound of Sonido rocks." Ichigo asked as if he only wanted to learn the skill because it sounded nice.

"No, I can't teach you how to use it. And don't give me that face Ichigo." She said when he scowled. "I'm not teaching you because I don't want to, but because it's impossible for me to teach it to you. Sonido is based on your instinct rather than knowledge so the only one who can teach it to you is yourself, Ichigo. I've brought your speed to the level where you can try to learn it, but before you try to learn it there are other things I need to teach you. You're able to match almost all the Arrancar in speed even if they use Sonido now, the only ones you'll have a bit trouble with are probably the top Espada's. Being able to keep up with their speed is very useful, but that won't be enough to beat them in battle, though."

Ichigo looked up at her expectantly, does this mean she's going to teach me some awesome fighting skills that she learned from her Captain? What could it be? Probably some awesome hidden techniques no one else knows. Kyouraku is the strongest Captain in the Gotei 13 after all.

"I'm going to teach you how to fight flexibly with this." Lisa continued as she held out a rope in front of him.

All his hopes crumbled and crashed to the ground. "You're going to leach me how to fight with a rope?!" Ichigo said with disbelief. "Are you making fun of me?"

"No I'm not making fun of you, Ichigo." Lisa said chuckling at the face he was giving her. "I learned to be flexible and fast during battle with a rope as well, believe me, it works. Now, tell me, Ichigo, are you right- or left-handed?" She asked.

"I'm right-handed." Ichigo replied, confused at the sudden change of topic.

"That's going to change then." Lisa said as she walked over to him and strapped his right arm behind his back. "From this day until the day I tell you you're done, you will not remove this rope. You will eat, sleep, fight and run with your right hand strapped behind your back. If I ever catch you doing something with your right hand you'll be very sorry."

Ichigo wanted to protest and tell her he'd rather hang himself with this rope instead of doing something like this, but he simply nodded and told her he would do it when the image of a bloodied Shinji sprang into his mind. It'd be for the best not to upset her.

"That's settled then." Lisa said cheerfully. "Now you have to get used to your left arm first, so let's start with the basics and get some strength into that arm of yours!"

"How're we going to do that?"

"You are going to hit this boulder with your left hand until you can hit it just as hard as you can with your right hand."

Ichigo sighed. I haven't even started this training and I hate it already. There's nothing I can do about it, though. Let's just get this over with.

Lisa smiled wickedly as she observed Ichigo obediently hitting the boulder with a scowl on his face. He's going to hate me for this, but when the time comes he'll be grateful for it.

---|---|---

_And here is chapter eight! _

_I've been quite busy the past few days so it took a little longer than I would've liked, but I hope you enjoyed this chapter anyway!_

_Please R&R!_


	9. Chapter 9: A place to sleep

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Bleach or any of the characters.

_**Tara-Yo:**__ If you liked the Ichigo/Lisa parts you'll hopefully be enjoying this chapter as well! I gave the two of them some extra time together in this chapter. As for your question about the extra red lines on Ichigo's Hollow mask. I'll explain it later on in my story, and if you've watched the Anime episodes closely you can see that Ichigo's mask also gets some extra red lines there! _

_**DarkJason: **__Our Rukia is back in town indeed! And she also has a stalker in this chapter! Who's that going to be?! Tatsuki's going into a heavy training alright, but no matter how hard the training is she'll keep going until she dies (again). And about the training Ichigo has to go through, it is indeed used so his left arm gets stronger than his right arm just like Kyouraku Shunsui. You'll notice I've given Ichigo and Lisa a little extra quality time together in this chapter as well, I hope you'll like it! Also, thank you very much for the 10/10 it's really appreciated!_

_**Kiiroi Senko: **__Yeah, since I didn't know for certain if the Vaizards in canon can use Sonido I only gave it to Lisa. It makes sense that both the Hollows and Shinigami's keep their first learned speed technique when they are transformed, at least I think so. As for the training method, let's just say that Lisa is evil, heh._

_**MKTerra:**__ Heh, no you didn't miss my description off Tatsuki's Shikai. I decided to keep most of it a secret and just give a few hints for now. It's obviously a fire-type, but the rest of her Shikai will be explained later on._

**Chapter 9:**** A place to sleep**

Ichigo angrily tried to stuff his food in his mouth. He barely even had a few hours of sleep last night, Lisa had made him train for hours before she finally decided they should get some sleep. Just when he started to like her training methods she gives him something like this? Even eating was hard now, how can you possibly eat with only one arm? It's like trying to catch the very air we breath with your bare hands. If only I could use my right arm, I'd grab that friggin' boulder and smash her with it. She'd probably just dodge it and use Sonido to get away, though. But it'll make me feel better anyway.

Looking up from his breakfast he saw Lisa eating happily with a smug smile on her face. Damned bitch, one of these days I'm going to wipe that smile from her face, it's because of her I can't even eat more than a few bites. if I'm not careful my plate falls on the ground and I'll have to eat it from the floor. I could always eat it like a dog of course, but I refuse to do something humiliating like that in front of everyone.

"Ichigo is a bit tense today, ain't he, Hiyori?" Shinji said cheerfully when he couldn't take the gloomy silence anymore. They'd been eating in silence for the past ten minutes, or at least everyone but Ichigo. The kid was sulking and whining angrily as he tried to get some food down his throat. The stubborn boy should just ignore the rest and eat like an animal, he was going to need his strength with the training.

"Yeah, ya got that righ', Shinji. You would almost think he doesn't like the food." Hiyori replied as a furious Ichigo dropped his plate in the sink with a loud breaking sound.

"My, my, no need ta be breakin' the plates, just because ya don't like the food, Ichigo." Shinji said with an evil smirk on his face.

"Keep your mouth shut, you bastard." Ichigo roared as he walked over to Shinji who tried to back away a little as Ichigo towered over him and grabbed his face with his left arm as his menacing skull formed on top off his head. "Or I'll rip that friggin' piercing out of your tongue and stab your eyes out with it!"

Shinji gulped as Ichigo glared at him, since when did he become so scary? Is Lisa turning him into a copy of herself instead of training him?

"I-I understand, Kurosaki-kun, I'm sorry" Shinji said fearfully, the look in his eyes were exactly the same as the one Lisa had had when she almost killed him… again.

"Good." Ichigo said with his Hollow-voice and he pushed Shinji back as he walked towards his usual training spot. Ichigo had barely eaten anything but he couldn't care less, he wanted to burn off some steam. Stupid training or not.

Ichigo walked to his favourite spot, away form the rest and started his ridiculous training. Honestly, why am I even doing this? Suddenly Ichigo saw the image of Shinji as he was lying in a bloody mess on the floor because he'd touched Lisa's Manga. Ah, now I remember, that's why I'm doing it. She'll kill me if I don't.

Lisa joined him to watch over his training after a few minutes as Ichigo pounded away on the now slightly smaller boulder. "Correct me if I'm wrong, Ichigo." She said with a straight face as she walked over to him and leaned against the boulder he was trying to demolish. "But I got the distinct feeling you're not really enjoying my special training. I mean, you were pretty upset just now and you threatened Shinji quite badly and on top off that you didn't even eat much of your breakfast before smashing your plate."

Ichigo stopped for a moment and stretched his sore hand. "You would almost start to think so, huh? You're wrong, Lisa, I _love_ your training!" Ichigo said sarcasm dripping from his voice. "What're you really expecting me to learn from this stupid training? All I get is sore knuckles." He continued as his left arm reached towards the rope that bound his right arm. He had enough off this, he wanted some real action.

And action he got.

Before Ichigo could even do as much as touch the rope Lisa grabbed his forehead and slammed him into the ground while yelling at him furiously. "I told you." She said in a menacing voice. "That I'd be really hacked off if you even tried to remove it."

Ichigo tried to get up again but Lisa's very hard fist hit him and he was almost knocked unconscious when he felt a sharp pain in his left cheekbone. It felt like it was shattered into a thousand little pieces.

"Don't you ever try that again!" Lisa continued her rant as she sat on his chest and gave him another punch for good measure.

Ichigo groaned as he tried to focus on the person sitting on top of him. His head was spinning and his vision was blurred. This was the first time he was on the receiving end off her anger, and he knew he was lucky. Apart from his aching cheekbone he was still unhurt and he wasn't even bleeding. But damn, she hit hard. "Ugh, why'd you hit so hard?" He asked without caring about the consequences it might have on an angered Lisa. "My head feels like it's going to explode and the world is spinning in front of my eyes."

"I'm glad you asked!" Lisa said awfully cheerful.

"Wha..?" Ichigo said confused, he'd expected her to get even more angry and start pounding him for real. Why's she suddenly smiling at me like nothing happened?

Lisa laughed at his dumbfounded look. "Keep your eyes open, Ichigo I'm about to tell you something." She said gently slapping the side off his face causing him to wince.

"Oh dear, it looks like your cheekbone is broken, maybe I overdid it a little…"

"Broken? Shattered more likely." Ichigo whined.

"We'll deal with that later, first, I'm going to answer your question." She said ignoring his whining. "You asked why I hit so hard, right? Well, that's quite simple. I bound my right arm behind my back and started training with my left until I couldn't even move one finger anymore. You're saying this training is ridiculous, and that it causes you nothing but sore knuckles. You're wrong with that, Ichigo. With this training you'll be able to crush boulders the size of a flat if you really work hard and put your time in it. You will have to want to do it though. I can transform you into a killing machine with everything I've learned from Kyouraku, but if you don't want to learn all of this you can just sod off."

Lisa looked at him as he took in all the information. "So what's it going to be, Ichigo? Do you want to get strong and combine all your strengths in battle, or do you want to sulk in a corner and whine as you cradle your sore knuckles while everyone saves your sorry ass from Aizen and the Espada's?"

"Can I really get strong with this training?" Ichigo asked still a little dizzy.

"Of course you can, I achieved my strength with this training. And for your information, I hit you with my right arm, but my left arm is much stronger. That usually happens if you're right-handed when you start this training. If I had hit you with my left I would probably have cracked your skull."

Ichigo gulped. She is fucking crazy, I pity the guy who's going to date her. He won't survive the next day if he only breathes wrong. And he'll die a very painful death if he doesn't notice she just bought new clothes or something

After thinking it over for a while Ichigo sighed. "I must be crazy to do this, but yes, please train me, Lisa. I'll do whatever you ask of me to become stronger."

"That's more like it." She replied grinning before helping him get up.

"Your 'wake-up calls' are pretty scary, though, Lisa. I really thought you were going to kill me."

"Of course I wouldn't kill you, Ichigo. You just needed to hear the truth and people tend to listen to me more carefully after a good beating, ask Shinji if you don't believe me."

"No need for that, I believe you. That guy will wet his pants if you only do as much as look at him with that grin of yours."

"Why, thank you, Ichigo, how nice of you to say." Lisa said smirking. "I really think we should let Hachigen look you over, though. I'm not very good with healing and I hit you quite hard."

"That you did." Ichigo agreed rubbing his painfully throbbing cheekbone with his left hand as he followed Lisa to where the other Vaizards were gathered.

---|---

Urahara Kisuke had looked very surprised when he saw Yoruichi entering his shop in the morning. He jumped up immediately and asked her if everything was alright, because she was back a few days earlier than he had expected. Yoruichi had quickly reassured him and told him that she had an urgent report to give him. She cast a glance over everyone sitting there and grabbed Urahara by his collar and took him to a nearby room.

Rukia was sitting at the table in the living room, sipping her tea as she listened to the muffled voices coming from the nearby room. From what she could hear Yoruichi was telling Urahara something about the previous Arrancar attack. Mayuri Kurotsuchi wanted Urahara to go out and check a few things for him. It was possible there were still some traces left at the scene and Mayuri wanted to know everything about them. When she was done with her rapport Yoruichi's voice grew quieter and she told Urahara something else. Rukia couldn't hear what was being said, but she thought she already knew what that was about.

After they were done talking Yoruichi appeared in the doorway together with Urahara. Yoruichi eyed everyone in the room and nodded at them before she sat down next to Rukia. Urahara went to the back of the house and rummaged through his belongings. A few minutes later he came back with a pack on his back and said goodbye to everyone as he began to walk outside with a smile on his face. He really missed researching things like this.

"And remember, Kisuke. Not a word to the boy. She said she wanted to surprise him when the time was ready and if the training goes well he'll get one hell of a surprise." Yoruichi told him with an evil grin on her face.

"Of course, Yoruichi. How could I deny the dying wish like that?" He answered and he left the shop.

"I don't know if she's told you this as well, Rukia," Yoruichi said. "But I'd appreciate it if you kept quiet about it as well. I assume you know what I mean, yes?"

"Yeah, I know." Rukia responded. "And she said to me she wanted to keep it secret so I never even intended to tell Ichigo about it. All I can do know is hope that I'm near Ichigo when she pops up. A picture off his face when he sees her will be worth kingdoms."

Yoruichi snickered as she envisioned the scene. "Yeah, you're quite right about that, Rukia. Why is everyone gathered here by the way? I assume you are on an a mission to protect Karakura Town? Or is there something else you need to do here?"

As if awoken from a trance Ikkaku jumped up and grabbed his wooden sword before walking out, most likely looking for someone to fight. Yumichika got up as well and followed his battle partner out after he told everyone they'd meet up here at noon.

Toushiro looked suspiciously at Rukia and Yoruichi, but got up nonetheless. He figured that if it was important they would've told him. "I'm going out and check up on that Shinigami who's supposed to look over this town. We'll discuss our sleeping arrangements in the afternoon. I don't think Urahara would appreciate it if we stayed here until the war is over."

"Who's been watching over this town since I'm gone, Captain Toushiro?" Rukia asked.

Toushiro sighed with relief as he looked at Rukia with a smile. Someone still knows how to address a Captain! "I believe it was Zennosuke Kurumadani."

"Oh, that's the man with that awful afro haircut right?"

"Yeah I believe they said something about an afro." Toushiro said before turning his attention to his Vice-captain who unsuccessfully tried to merge with the wall. "Come, Matsumoto, we've got work to do. We have to get Zennosuke's report and when we're done with that we have to be on stand-by should any Arrancar attack Karakura Town today, but I doubt they'll attack so soon after their previous attack."

"Ah, about that, Captain. I'm afraid I can't join you to listen to Zennosuke's… interesting report. You see, I've got to go shoppi-… err I mean I have to check out the mall to see if something's wrong there. It wouldn't do to have Hollows or Arrancars running loose near all those people would it now, Captain?" Matsumoto said and she sped off. "I'll see you in the afternoon, Captain!"

"That woman…" Toushiro said as he covered his face with his palm. "She just said she wanted to go shopping…"

Rukia and Yoruichi both hid a giggle behind their hands. "I have to go as well, Captain Toushiro. I need to check on Ichigo and his friends. I want to know what exactly happened during the Arrancar attacks." Rukia said as she got up. "I'll see you in the afternoon, good-bye."

"I can't believe it. Everyone was eager to join me to the Real World but instead of following orders they're just going to have some fun." Toushiro said frustrated

"Just let them have a little fun, Toushiro. It won't be too long before the Arrancar start showing up again." Yoruichi said. "Just go and question that afro-haired guy and relax until the Arrancar show up."

"I guess you're right, Yoruichi. I'm going to look for Zennosuke. I'll probably see you in the afternoon as well" Toushiro said and he left as well.

Outside, Rukia was walking past the numerous streets on her way to Inoue Orihime. Rukia had figured it would be for the best if she went looking for the girl first. It could be quite awkward if she went to Ichigo's house and walked in on his family. If Ichigo was training it was very likely that he wasn't at home and his family didn't know anything about Aizen and the war. Yes, it will be for the best if I go to Inoue first. If I go to her first I might be able to help her out, I'm sure Inoue wants to grow stronger as well. Her abilities are quite unique, I don't even think Inoue knows what the extent of her powers really are. Figuring out a good training method could be very hard.

A few minutes later Rukia had arrived at Inoue's house and knocked on the door. When the door opened Inoue was standing in the doorway gaping at Rukia.

"Rukia! What're you doing here?!" She said happily.

"I've come to protect Karakura Town together with a few others. Since it all seems to be happening here Captain-Commander Yamamoto ordered us to go here for the safety of this town." Rukia said ignoring the fact that only Toushiro had been ordered to protect Karakura Town.

"How have you been doing Inoue?" Rukia asked as she walked inside and closed the door behind her and walked into the living room together with Inoue. "It has been quite chaotic in Karakura Town hasn't it?"

"Yes, you could say that." Inoue said sadly as tears started forming in the corners of her eyes.

"Oi, what's wrong Inoue?" Rukia said as Inoue suddenly started sobbing quietly. "I didn't want to upset you."

"It's okay, Rukia. It's not your fault." Inoue said as she sat down and looked at Rukia with her tear-streaked face. "It's just… ever since Tatsuki died everything seems to be spinning out of control." Inoue fidgeted with her hands in her lap. "After those two men came and killed her everything went wrong. Ichigo came to me when he wasn't even completely healed from his injuries and we decided together with Ishida to start preparing for the war together, but not even one day later Ishida suddenly disappeared without a trace and it didn't take long before Ichigo went off to the Vaizards to train with them as well, he said that he had problems with his inner Hollow and they were the only ones who could help him."

Rukia's eyes went wide. Ishida suddenly went missing and Ichigo went to the Vaizards? It has been quite chaotic here, indeed. But I might be able to see the Vaizards, I want them to know they're not despised by everyone.

Inoue took a deep breath and started crying in earnest when she continued her story. "I've been so alone ever since they left. I've got Sado, of course, but he isn't one of the biggest talkers. We trained a bit together, but I'm so lonely. Every time I start training I can't help but think about everyone who left me. My brother, Tatsuki, Ishida and of course Ichigo. I wish I could do something other than just sit by the sidelines and watch everyone go."

Rukia looked at her friend with a sad face before enveloping her in a bug hug and she began patting her back. Rukia hadn't known that Inoue was so lonely, if she had she certainly would've tried to go to Karakura Town earlier. She had promised Tatsuki she wouldn't tell anyone in Karakura Town that she was in Soul Society and was training very hard for the upcoming war, but when Rukia saw how miserable Inoue was she knew she had to tell her the truth. How could she not tell Inoue how her best friend was doing? Rukia figured it would be okay to only tell Inoue about it.

"Sshh… everything's going to be alright, Inoue." Rukia said in an attempt to comfort the girl that was crying on her shoulders right now. "I'm sure Ishida is fine and training to get stronger just like Ichigo. And she asked me not to tell this to anyone, but I can't just not tell you. Inoue, Tatsuki is doing fine in Soul Society. I've seen her there and she is training so she can get stronger as well. She's going to help us protect Karakura Town in the winter if she can get strong enough by then."

"D-did you see her?" Inoue asked as she looked up at Rukia.

"Yeah, I did. She's fine and she misses everyone, but she can't just sit still and do nothing. Tatsuki has decided to train as hard as she can to prepare for the war and join you in the fight." Rukia said as she helped Inoue sit up. "Now cheer up a little, Inoue. You don't have to be lonely anymore, I'll be here with you. I can help you get stronger and I'm pretty sure we might be able to meet Ichigo sometime soon even though he's training with the Vaizards."

Inoue gave her a watery smile and nodded as she wiped her eyes with hand. "You're right, Rukia. I'm just sitting here crying my eyes out when I should be working. Ichigo is training hard to get stronger and Tatsuki is getting stronger as well. I can't just sit here and feel sorry for myself. I'm going to get stronger as well." She said with determination. "But do you really think we can meet Ichigo?" Inoue continued hesitantly "I heard those Vaizards don't like other people because of the things that happened to them in Soul Society…"

"Yes, of course we can. We just have to show them we accept them for who they are. I'm sure they won't kill anyone who happens to come close to them, and since we're friends off Ichigo I think they will let us see him. Even he can't train for months on end without a little break."

"Thank you, Rukia." Inoue said as she got up and hugged her friend. "I really needed that."

"You're welcome, Inoue." Rukia said, glad that her friend had calmed down a bit. "Let's go outside and take a walk, I'm supposed to watch over Karakura Town and make sure there are no Arrancars on the run."

---|---

In the basement off a hospital not too far away from were Inoue and Rukia were supposed to be watching out for Arrancars Ishida was frantically avoiding his father who was shooting arrows at him as if his life depended on it. The room they were in was very big, but it still felt very confining. They'd been going at it for day on end now. Was this really working? Ishida looked over his shoulder to his dad and wanted to complain about this ridiculous training method when an arrow flew past his face and his the wall in front off him.

"What're you spacing off for, Uryuu? If you've got time to look over your shoulders you should use that to avoid my arrows." His dad called out to him.

"How's running going to help me regain my Quincy powers? This really isn't working!" Ishida retorted as he dodged a few more arrows that flew past his ears. "We've been doing this for a long time now and I'm starting to think that you don't even know what you are doing. Is this really going to bring back my Quincy powers?"

"Of course it is." Ryuuken said. "Assuming you don't die first, of course."

Ishida had no choice but to keep going. His father was shooting arrows at him at an inhuman pace. And it didn't look like he was going to stop anytime soon. Ishida was beginning to get very tired, if his father wasn't going to stop soon he'd collapse right on the spot from overexertion.

There's only one thing I can do, Ishida thought when he was barely able to stand on his legs without falling over. I have to make sure he can't fire any arrows at me before it's too late. He's going to kill me if I don't hurry. Ishida suddenly turned around and ran towards his father. He avoided all the arrows that his dad shot at him with the use of Hirenkyaku and jumped at his dad with all the strength he could muster. His dad however had seen this coming for ages and simply dodged his son. When Ishida launched his second attack Ryuuken fired a single arrow which impaled him in the chest and Ishida collapsed on the floor.

"Drive both the mind and body to their limit," Ryuuken told his unconscious son as he threw him over his shoulders and started walking to the door. "And then shoot him with a Quincy arrow nineteen millimetres to the right of his heart. That is the only way to restore the Quincy powers once they've been lost."

Ryuuken carried his son to a private bed in the hospital and laid him into the large bed. "Use it well, Uryuu." He said and he walked out of the room without looking back at the unconscious young man.

---|---

In the afternoon Inoue and all the Shinigami's gathered at Urahara's little candy shop, they were waiting for Toushiro to arrive so they could discuss their options. In the meantime Matsumoto was talking excitedly with Yumichika. It was quite obvious that Matsumoto had been shopping… a lot. She had at least a dozen bags from different clothes shops lying on the ground next to her, and Rangiku was also wearing different clothes. She wore a white shirt which seemed to be struggling to keep her well-endowed bosom in control. Underneath the shirt she wore a matching black skirt. She was telling everyone who wanted to listen how beautiful the town was and how she liked it here. No one had been interested in her stories, but at the word beautiful Yumichika started listening to her.

Inoue and Rukia were silently talking with Yoruichi as they waited for Hitsugaya Toushiro to arrive. Inoue had calmed down a lot after Rukia had visited her and was feeling much better now. She finally had someone with whom she could talk. She liked Sado, she really did, but he just wasn't a friend who would listen to her problems and help her when she was feeling down. Inoue hoped she was able to meet Ichigo soon. She wanted to see how he was doing, and she had to admit she was a little curious as well. Ichigo was famous for the speed in which he could increase his strength, how much stronger has he already gotten since he left to train with the Vaizards?

Just when Ikkaku got bored and wanted to leave, a grumbling Toushiro stepped inside and sat down next to Matsumoto after giving her a death glare when he noticed all the bags lying on the ground next to her feet.

"How did it go with that Zennosuke guy, Captain?" Matsumoto asked although it was pretty obvious that it hadn't gone very well. He was pretty put off and he had an ugly scowl on his face.

"Horrible," Toushiro said. "That man kept going on and on about everything he disliked here. Apparently there are a lot of people who can see him in this town, and he is also pretty hacked off about a guy named Don Kanonji. According to Zennosuke that man has been killing off all the Hollows in this town together with a bunch of kids. Zennosuke thinks that it should be his job to do that, but no one listens to his complaints." He sighed. "I can understand why they do. He just keeps yapping until your head falls off."

"Didn't you say you wanted to ask him a few things about the Arrancars that attacked Karakura Town recently?" Matsumoto asked.

"Yeah, I did," Toushiro replied. "When I asked him about the Arrancar attack he suddenly started waving his arms like a madman and tried to come up with an excuse. It looks like he ran away from them as soon as he sensed them. All he could tell me is that they had massive Reiatsu so it looks like we're not getting any extra information about the Arrancars from him."

"That's too bad, Captain." Matsumoto said as she unsuccessfully tried not to laugh.

Toushiro merely glared at her in response.

"Anyway, I think we need to find a place to sleep first. Urahara was so kind to let us stay here yesterday, but we can't ask him to let all of us sleep here again tonight." Rukia said, before Toushiro and Matsumoto started bickering again.

"Um…" Inoue said uncertainly. "I got space for a few people, but I can't let all of you stay over for the next few months. If Rukia wants to stay at my place I got room for one or maybe two more people."

"You can all fight over those spots," Ikkaku said getting up from his seat. "I'll find something else, I don't want to be a bother." Ikkaku laid his wooden sword over his shoulders and left the small shop.

"Oi, wait, Ikkaku!" Yumichika said as he got up as well and followed him out.

"Well that only leaves us, Captain!" Matsumoto said happily.

"Okay, that's settled then." He replied. "Let's grab our stuff and drop them off at Inoue's place."

It took Matsumoto a lot more time to get all her things, and just when they were ready to leave and go to Inoue's place Urahara walked in. It was very obvious he'd been working all day in the woods. His clothes were dirty and he had smudges of mud on his face.

"Aw, is everyone leaving already?" He asked brightly as he waved his fan in front off his face.

"Yes, Inoue was so kind to provide a place to sleep for us," Toushiro said. "Did you succeed with whatever it was you had to do for Kurotsuchi Mayuri?"

"Yes, I did. I've been searching for battle evidence in the woods for him. He wanted to see if I could find Reiatsu traces from the Espada who came to Karakura Town. I found a few interesting things. I don't think it's from their Reiatsu, but it should interest Mayuri a lot."

"Not their Reiatsu, do you mean it's a separate weapon or something similar they've created?" Toushiro asked.

"I don't have the means to research that here." Urahara replied. "I'll ask if Yoruichi can go to Soul Society tomorrow so she can bring the samples to Mayuri. I hope he can find out what it is. I think it's very dangerous stuff, the traces alone gave me the shivers."

Toushiro nodded at him. "Yes, that'll be for the best. I'll come back here in a few days to see if Mayuri found out anything, if it's something dangerous I want to be prepared for it. Anyway, we should be going now. Good-bye, Urahara. Thanks for the help."

"Not at all, just drop by if you need anything else." Urahara said as he let them out.

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Later that day at Inoue's house, Rukia was not sure if she should have accepted Inoue's offer. Why did I agree to stay with Inoue again? She thought when she forced another forkful of her dinner down her throat. I really don't know how Inoue can eat this stuff at that quick pace without vomiting all over the place. Back when I went to school together with Ichigo she already had weird eating habits, but I didn't know it was this bad. It's probably because Tatsuki's not here anymore. I know she occasionally brought her some decent food, I think Inoue would've died ages ago if Tatsuki didn't give her some decent food.

When Rukia looked at Toushiro who was sitting next to her she could barely refrain from laughing out loud as she saw his face. He was obviously having trouble eating as well. After each bite he swallowed he seemed to be mentally preparing himself for the next. When he couldn't take it anymore he pushed his plate away and claimed that he wasn't very hungry and had eaten enough even though his plate was still half full. His face looked rather greenish so Rukia decided to spare him and instead of laughing at his face she glanced at Matsumoto thinking the woman was having trouble eating as well.

The sight that greeted her surprised Rukia, though. Matsumoto was eating vigorously and seemed to be enjoying the food a lot. Rukia couldn't believe her eyes, but instead of questioning the woman she decided to take few more bites before claiming she had eaten enough and telling Inoue it was delicious so as not to offend her friend.

"This tastes really good, Inoue." Matsumoto said when she had emptied her plate. "You can cook really good."

"Really?" The girl asked surprised. "Most people don't like the things I make so I was worried my sense of taste was off."

"No, not at all, Inoue." Matsumoto replied brightly. "It looked really off, but it tasted very good!"

"I'm glad everyone liked it!" Inoue said as she started clearing the table. "You sure you don't want to eat more, Toushiro? A small boy has to eat good."

"No, thanks," he grumbled as he muttered threats to the girl under his breath and shot a laughing Matsumoto a murderous glare.

"Okay, I'm going to get some ice cream then." Inoue said as she walked to the small kitchen.

When Inoue left Matsumoto and Rukia couldn't keep from laughing at Toushiro's face. It was so funny to see him when people told him he was a small boy. He always looked very grown up with his business-like face, but when someone insulted him he would start sulking and make a face which really made him look like a small kid.

"Shut up!" Toushiro shouted at them with a big scowl on his face, but instead of calming down Rukia and Matsumoto only started to laugh harder. They only stopped when Inoue entered the room again a few minutes later with the promised ice cream.

"Thank you, Inoue." Rukia said as she accepted her plate of ice cream eager to finally eat something that didn't give her stomach problems.

Everyone ate their ice cream in a comfortable silence until the doorbell rang. Inoue went to look who it was and was surprised to see that Ichigo's father was standing in front of her with a sad look in his eyes.

"Is something wrong, Mr. Kurosaki?" Inoue asked politely

"Yes, Ichigo just got home and he wanted to see Rukia right away, he said it was important so I went looking for her. I just got here from Urahara, he said that Rukia was here." Isshin replied as he frantically fidgeted with his hands.

"Did I hear my name?" Rukia said as she walked towards the man in the doorway.

"Yes," Inoue said. "Mr. Kurosaki said that Ichigo just got home and he asked for you. Come we have to go and see him, it might be important!"

"No!" Isshin said a little harder than he intended. "No, he specifically asked for Rukia, I think he didn't want anyone else to hear whatever he has to say, yet. I'm sure he will tell you tomorrow, Inoue. He just needs some time."

Inoue looked at her feet sadly before nodding at him. "Okay, I understand."

"Inoue…" Rukia hesitated.

"It's okay, Rukia. Go to him, he needs you. Just tell him I want to see him sometime soon, alright?"

"I will," Rukia said before following Isshin towards his house.

"Why is Ichigo home already?" Rukia asked suspiciously as they neared the Kurosaki Clinic. "I thought he was training with the Vai-.." Rukia said before clapping her hands over her mouth. She'd almost forgotten that his father knew close to nothing about his eldest son and his Shinigami powers.

"Yeah he was training with the Vaizards, Rukia." Isshin said amused at her reaction. "Don't worry, I know everything about them, Ichigo, the Shinigami's and the upcoming war."

Rukia blinked with her eyes "H-how do you?"

"How I know? That's simple, Rukia. I've been a Shinigami for years until I lost my powers twenty years ago and came to live here."

"You were a Shinigami?!"

"Yes I was, and still am. I recently recovered my powers again and I'll be helping out in the war as well, but enough about that." Isshin said as they entered the house. "Ichigo has a lot of things to tell you, I will tell you more about me when the time comes." Isshin finished as he ushered a stunned Rukia up the stairs towards Ichigo's bedroom.

"Now what is so important you needed me straight away, Ichigo?" Rukia asked as she pushed open his door and walked inside. Rukia looked around in his bedroom and found it quite deserted. "Ichigo?" She asked tentatively. Just when she wanted to turn around and ask Isshin where his son was the bedroom door burst open and an explosion of sound overwhelmed her as she saw a couple off figures ran towards her.

"Neee-saaaann!!" Kon yelled who arrived first and attempted to hug her breasts. Without much success, though. As soon as Kon got close to Rukia he was slammed into the ground as she stepped on his face. Some things never change. She didn't expect what happened next, though. Isshin and Yuzu flew towards her and pinned her on the bed.

"Bind her now, Karin!" Isshin yelled.

"I'm not going to help you with something like this," a bored voice from the doorway called out.

"I'll do it, dad!" Yuzu yelled as she struggled to hold Rukia together with him. When Isshin nodded at her and made sure Rukia really couldn't get away Yuzu jumped back and pointed two fingers at Rukia. "Bakudou #1 Sai!"

"We got her! Isshin cried out as Rukia's hands were bound to her back.

"What's the meaning of this?" Rukia said furiously.

"We brought you here to give you an offer." Isshin said.

"What're you going to do with me? And where's Ichigo?"

Isshin suddenly kneeled in front off her together with Yuzu. "Please stay with us, Rukia." They said in unision with similar pleading looks on their faces.

"Scuse me?" Rukia asked in bewilderment.

"We've been so lonely since you've been gone, Rukia! We need you here! I'm sure Ichigo would agree to have his closet-girl back if he comes back from the Vaizards." Isshin said still kneeling in front of her.

"You knew I lived in his closet?" Rukia asked. "And, wait. Did you just say that Ichigo is still with the Vaizards?"

"Of course I knew! Who wouldn't notice it if a beauty such as yourself showed up?" Isshin said ignoring her second question.

Rukia sighed, she knew the man was crazy, but this? "I'm sorry, I can't stay here. I promised Inoue I would stay with her." Rukia said as she dispelled the Kidou spell Yuzu had cast on her. "But I have to say I'm quite surprised when I saw you cast this binding spell on me, Yuzu. It's pretty strong considering you're a human."

"No! Please don't leave, Rukia." Isshin said as Rukia walked towards the door. "We'll provide you with new clothes, I'll wash them everyday and Yuzu will cook for you, she can cook very good."

Rukia hesitated a little when they mentioned the cooking but left anyway.

"I told you it wouldn't work, dad, Yuzu." Karin told them as they looked at Rukia's departing back with tears in their eyes.

---|---

Back outside, Rukia was pondering about everything she'd just witnessed as she was walking towards Inoue's home again. That man is annoying as hell! He's just as bad as Kon. Rukia sighed. I wonder how Ichigo has survived it through all those years. It must've been really tough when his mum died. Luckily he still had Karin, she seems really nice and isn't contaminated with the bad habits off her dad, yet. Yuzu is nice as well, but sadly enough her dad has a bad influence on her. Or well, it can't be _that_ bad really. He's learned her how to use Bakudou #1 and maybe he's learned her more. It looks like everyone in the Kurosaki family is buzzing with spiritual powers.

Rukia was interrupted from her thoughts as Inoue called out to her and ran over so she was walking next to her.

"Inoue, what're you doing here?"

"I was waiting here for you to come back, I didn't expect you to leave so early, though. What's wrong with Ichigo, for suddenly calling you out there?"

"Oh, um, well yeah…" Rukia mumbled figuring out how she could say she was almost captured and taken prisoner by the Kurosaki family.

Inoue suddenly gasped. "Ooh! I know why," She said as her face lit up with a knowing look. "Ichigo likes you, Rukia!" She exclaimed thinking Rukia was mumbling because she felt uncomfortable.

"No, nothing like that Inoue!" Rukia hastily interrupted. "He wasn't even there. His dad and Yuzu captured me in his bedroom and wanted me to stay there."

"Ooh they did?" Inoue said sadly. "I really thought I figured it all out this time." Inoue continued. "So are you going to stay with them?"

"Of course not, Inoue. I promised you I'd help you out, didn't I?" Rukia said. "I'm not just going to leave you with Matsumoto and Toushiro on your own, and besides. I can help you out better with your training when I stay over at your place."

"Are you really going to help me with my training?" Inoue asked happily.

"Of course I am." Rukia replied brightly. "Now, let's go home. If we let Matsumoto and Toushiro alone at your house they'll tear the place down."

When the two girls walked home neither of them saw or noticed the cloaked man who followed them from a distance with a smile on his face. These cloaks are very good, he thought. It completely hides my Reiatsu. You better watch out, Rukia. I'll be your shadow from now on!

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"Ikkaku, why didn't we accept that girls offer again? I know you don't want to depend on people, but we really have to sleep somewhere tonight, and it'd be pretty ugly if we had to sleep in the park or something." Yumichika said as he walked behind Ikkaku.

"Shut up, Yumichika. I never asked you to come with me." Ikakku replied absentminded as he inspected his wrapped up sandwich he bought at the local convenience store. "I really don't understand how they do this." He said. "The shop-assistant said they get a shipment off these every day, but I doubt they got the skills to wrap them all up so neatly and stack them up in the store before the shop opens again the next day."

"Yeah, I know." Yumichika replied. "I've been wondering the same." Yumichika suddenly looked to his side when he felt a Hollow appear. "That Hollow is pretty strong, but I don't think it's an Arrancar, do you think we should attack it? It's not that far away from us."

"Of course we are," Ikkaku said as swallowed a small green orb and sped towards the Hollow.

Yumichika sighed and followed him. When he caught up with his friend Yumichika saw him fend off a big Hollow in front of a human. If he had to guess Yumichika would say it was a Menos Grande who hadn't been turned into an Arrancar yet.

"I'll save your ass from that Hollow, but in return I want to sleep at your house together with a friend of mine." Ikkaku told the boy lying on the ground who apparently was able to see both Ikkaku and the Menos Grande.

"W-what?!" The boy asked horrified. "No, I don't think my nee-chan." He said hesitantly, but he was already too late. Ikkaku had released his Zanpakuto and charged forward to the Menos Grande and destroyed it without much effort.

---|---

Grumbling angrily Ichigo stared at the ceiling. After the little 'pep-talk' Lisa had given him they'd gone to Hachigen so he could heal Ichigo's cheekbone. The man had sighed at them and scolded Lisa for using these dangerous training methods, but started healing Ichigo anyway. His cheekbone had almost completely healed, it was only a little sore now. Ichigo had wanted to start his training right away, but Hachigen had stopped him and told him he would have to wait until the next day. Ichigo had tried to argue, but Hachigen wouldn't budge and insisted Ichigo needed to rest before continuing the training.

How can a sore cheekbone render me unable to train? Ichigo thought furiously. It's not like I'm training my face. The only thing I do is stand on one spot all day long and punch a very solid rock for hours on end while Lisa looks down on me with amusement and tells me to hit harder.

When Ichigo couldn't lie down anymore, he got up, dressed himself and walked out of his room. Ichigo figured it was quite late already, so he silently walked through the hallway and snuck down the stairs, into the basement. Technically it's the next day already, so I'm not doing anything I'm not allowed to, Ichigo thought as he walked to the boulder he always trained on.

When he got there, however, he noticed someone else was already training. Lisa had her left arm bound behind her back and was hitting the boulder at an insanely fast pace. Ichigo decided to watch her for a bit so he sat down against the rock formations not too far from Lisa.

Ichigo watched as small chips off rock flew past her face and fell on the ground near her feet after every blow she dealt. It looked like Lisa was going at it for quite some time now. Her face was sweaty and her long braid was coming loose.

"You're late, Ichigo." She said after a while. "I figured that you would be down here right after the others went to bed."

"I wasn't sure all the others had gone to bed already, so I waited a little longer." Ichigo said a little startled. He didn't know she'd noticed him already. "But I don't want to interrupt your own training, I can wait until you're done."

"There's no need, Ichigo. I was merely training my left arm a little again. If you want to we can train together." Lisa suggested. "It'll be a little crammed, but I think there's enough space for both off us."

"Sure, if you don't mind." Ichigo replied as he got up.

"Of course not," Lisa said as she had that grin off hers on her face again. "Say what, Ichigo." She continued. "Let's make this training a little more fun."

"What did you have in mind, Lisa?" Ichigo asked fearfully, he knew that look.

"Let's turn the training into a little match. Let's see who can punch off the most pieces of stone from the boulder in thirty minutes time."

Ichigo smiled, this wasn't too bad. "You're on," he said and wanted to begin straight away, but Lisa wasn't finished yet.

"Wait a minute, Ichigo. Did you really think it'd be that easy?" Lisa said smirking. "The one who loses the match has to carry the winner to his or her bed."

"Wha…?! No! No way I'm going to do something like that!" Ichigo said uncomfortably.

"That's too bad, Ichigo. You can't crawl back now, you already said yes. And besides, don't you want to carry a beauty like me to bed?" Lisa said teasingly.

"I'm not going to do a stupid match like this, forget it, Lisa." Ichigo grumbled, but he started punching the boulder anyway.

Lisa smiled at him as she gave him a head start. It was just too easy to tease him.

Time to earn my prize, Lisa thought after a few minutes and she started pounding her boulder vigorously. Ichigo was doing pretty good on his side off the boulder, he did better than he usually did anyway. His hands quickly started bleeding, but he ignored the pain and kept going on. His motivation were probably the consequences he had to bear should he lose, but there was no way he could beat her, not yet at least.

As they neared the end of their match Lisa wanted to humiliate him and gave everything she had. Her pace quickened and large chunks of stone were falling on the floor as she pounded the boulder. Lisa ignored the pain in her hand and kept going until there was no doubt at all who'd won the match. Her pile of stone she'd taken off the boulder was much larger than Ichigo's.

Ichigo looked from her bleeding hand to his own and hesitated a little. "Wait a minute." He finally said. "I'm going to get some bandages."

"We haven't got bandages down here, Ichigo!" She yelled at him as he ran away, but he pretended he hadn't heard her and walked away. A short while later he returned together with his sword causing Lisa to scowl at him.

"I know I'm not supposed to use my sword yet, but can I please show you something?"

Lisa shrugged. "If you must, but don't think I'll forget the result of our match, and the price you have to pay." She said.

Ichigo rolled his eyes before he released his Zanpakuto, revealing a wrapped up meat cleaver. Ichigo grabbed the wrappings and pulled it loose with one hand. When he had finally managed to untangle the sword he ripped off two pieces from the cloth with his teeth and walked over to Lisa.

"Hold out your hand."

When she complied he clumsily bound her bleeding hand with one piece of cloth and with the help of his teeth he laid a knot in it. When he was done he did the same thing to himself.

"That has to be the most useful Shikai I've ever seen," Lisa said grinning as she walked to the place where they had stuck their swords into the ground together with Ichigo. "But I haven't forgotten the deal, Ichigo. Bring me to my bed."

Ichigo sighed and wanted to pick her up but that proved to be very difficult with one arm. He was afraid to touch her somewhere inappropriate so he was trying to figure out the best way to carry her.

"Don't be so shy, Ichigo." Lisa said after a while. "Just grab my legs, I'll grab your neck with my free arm."

"Okay, okay." He said as he grabbed her legs and Lisa grabbed hold of his neck as she snuggled against him and laid her head on his shoulder, already preparing to sleep the day away.

When Lisa was almost asleep already Ichigo walked through the basement and stopped in front off the stairs. Climbing these stairs while carrying someone was very difficult. Especially if you can only use one arm. Ichigo took a deep breath and started to climb the stairs while trying to keep his balance. Somehow he made it to the top without toppling backwards. Just as Ichigo wanted to walk to her bedroom he stopped in his tracks… Where exactly is her bedroom?

"Oi, Lisa." Ichigo whispered softly in her ear. "Where is your bedroom?"

"Second room on the left." She said giggling a little. "And stop tickling my ear."

"I ain't tickling nothing." Ichigo muttered under his breath as he walked to her bedroom.

"Now you have to tuck me in." Lisa said in a demanding voice once Ichigo had laid her on her bed.

"Yeah, yeah. You don't have to command me, you know."

When Ichigo had made sure she was completely covered by the sheets he wanted to walk out, but just when he reached the door Lisa's voice stopped him.

"You know, Ichigo." She said. "Normally when people go to bed, they don't keep their training clothes on."

Ichigo gulped and looked over his shoulder and saw Lisa lying there with a huge smirk on her face and was pulling the covers down.

"Forget it." Ichigo said with big eyes and he practically ran from her room before she could stop him.

---|---|---

And chapter nine is done!

I got so caught up in writing this chapter that I made it a little bit longer than my previous chapters. I really enjoyed writing this chapter, so please tell me what you think off it, especially the Lisa/ Ichigo scenes of course!

R&R!


	10. Chapter 10: Meet the Vaizards

**Disclaimer: ** I do not own Bleach or any of the characters.

_**OpenSourceArtist: **__Don't worry, I do intend to make Tatsuki quite powerful, but I'm not going to bring it over the top. It would be quite insane if she was just as powerful as Ichigo is right now. She's learning a pretty dangerous skill from Soifon at the moment, but if she will succeed with the training remains yet to be seen._

_**DarkJason:**__ I'm glad you liked my previous chapter, I worked pretty hard on the Lisa and Ichigo interactions. You will also get to see some more Lisa stuff this chapter! And eventually I'll put some fluff in it of course._

_**1moleman: **__It's good to hear you enjoyed reading my story so far. About your question. I think I should've explained it a bit more clearly, but Ichigo isn't just punching some lowly rocks, but big boulders. But besides that they aren't really relying on spirit power during this training, so it will be harder for Lisa and Ichigo to simply crush the boulders. Anyways, I'm glad this is one of your favourite fics! _

**Chapter 10: Meet the Vaizards**

Ikkaku frowned as he followed the boy who had just introduced himself as Asano Keigo. He seemed very grateful that he was saved from the Menos Grande by Ikkaku, but somehow he was afraid to go home. He hesitantly led them through the dimly lit streets towards his house. It almost looked like he was afraid he would be killed the moment he entered it. Ikkaku looked at Yumichika, but his friend didn't know why Keigo was acting like this either, so Ikkaku decided to speak up before they reached their destination.

"Oi, Keigo," he started. "Why are you so afraid to go home? It looks to me you don't want to go there at all."

Keigo looked over his shoulder and gulped when he noticed that Ikkaku was eyeing him suspiciously. Keigo was still a little intimidated by the man even though he had just saved his life from whatever that monster was. He took a deep breath before answering the bald man. "Well um… I'm really glad you saved me and all, but I don't think my nee-chan would approve if I come home and tell her that I found a bald man who is going to sleep here for a while together with his friend."

As soon as Keigo was done talking Ikkaku narrowed his eyes, grabbed his wooden sword and pointed it at Keigo who back away.

"I'm not bald!" Ikkaku said as he brought his menacing face close to Keigo's who was trembling with fear. "My head is shaven."

"R-r-right, I'm sorry." Keigo replied in a tiny voice. "W-well, let's go then, shall we?"

Ikkaku merely glared at Keigo and followed him towards his house as he ignored Yumichika who was snickering behind his back.

After a short walk they arrived at Keigo's house. He stood still in front of the door and took a few shuddering breaths. Feeling Ikkaku's glare burning on his back he hesitantly opened the door and led the two man behind him to the living room, to his sister. Keigo wanted to get out of this mess, but he knew if he didn't let the men in they'd kill him, but if he did let them in his sister would kill him as well.

"I'm home…" He said upon entering the living room and spotting his sister sitting on the couch.

Keigo's sister got up and slowly walked to her little brother as she trembled with rage. "You're late! How long does it take to get a bottle of juice from the vending machine?!" She screamed at him. She wanted to crush the boy, but she stopped in her tracks as she saw he had brought two men with him.

"Um, nee-chan… w-well, you see. I kinda got attacked by a monster just now and these two men saved me, so I kinda forgot the juice. And now they are kinda going to be staying here for a while…" Keigo said looking at his sister who was staring at Ikkaku and his friend. "But, if you don't want them to stay I'm sure they'd leave right away!" He hastily added.

His sister suddenly ran forward and charged to her brother. Keigo frantically waved his hands in front of him and closed his eyes awaiting his inevitable death while screaming that he was sorry. His death didn't come, though. "You're the man! You did it, Keigo!" She screamed as she ran towards Ikkaku after hugging her brother.

Keigo opened his eyes and blinked several times unsure how to react. It wasn't often his sister acted like this. In fact, this had to be the first time she'd ever hugged him.

"So these people are going to stay here? Okay! Okay! It's totally okay!" she said before introducing herself as Asano Mizuho to the two man staring at her with a dumbfounded expression on their faces. At least they had a place to sleep now, but that girl was going to be a pain if she was going to act like this the whole time.

"What?!" Keigo suddenly said. "You're just going to let two strange men sleep in our house, just like that?"

Mizuho turned around and glared at him. "You're such a pain, what's your problem anyway? You're the one who brought them here."

"That's true… But I thought that if I introduced them like this you didn't want to let them stay, I wanted you to say no!"

"Oh, really? Too bad, It's okay with me."

"But why?!"

"Because I don't want to be the big sister who questions it when her little brother brings home strange men." Mizuho said displaying a small blush on her cheeks. "Actually, I kinda like men with shaved heads."

"That's why you're doing this?! And his head isn't shaved! He's ba-… err I mean… Yes, he has shaved his head." Keigo said as he remembered Ikkaku had almost killed him the last time he'd said he was bald. "Alright, they're going to stay here." Keigo continued his shoulders sagging in defeat. "But you're going to explain why there are two strange men in our house to Mom and Dad when they find out about it."

Mizuho ignored him and led Ikkaku and Yumichika to the guest room and made sure they were comfortable.

---|---

The next morning a very annoyed Rukia was eating the worst breakfast she'd ever had. This time it wasn't Inoue who'd made it, though. Rangiku had offered to make breakfast in the morning because she was staying over at Inoue's place until the danger was over without having to pay anything. Thinking she'd be much better than Inoue Rukia and Toushiro had happily told Rangiku that she could make breakfast for them.

Bad idea.

Rukia looked at Toushiro and she saw that he was very annoyed with his Vice-captain as well. Rangiku on the other hand didn't seem to notice that the food was disgusting, she kept attacking her plate and happily chatted away without looking at Rukia and Toushiro's annoyed glares.

When they were done with eating Toushiro and Rangiku went out to see if there were any Hollow or Arrancar activities in Karakura Town. After the door had closed behind the two Rukia and Inoue got up, cleaned the table and did the dishes together. As they worked together Rukia merely stared in front of her and her thoughts drifted off to an orange-haired boy who was supposedly training with the Vaizards right now. Rukia wanted to know how he was doing and besides that she wanted to know more about the Vaizards. They had a grudge against all the Shinigami except Urahara, Tsukabishi and Yoruichi. Rukia really couldn't blame them, though, considering how they were treated by Soul Society. But she still hoped she could befriend them or at least get on speaking with them without being afraid to be killed on the spot.

"What's wrong, Rukia?!" Inoue asked a little worried, but Rukia was so deep in thought that she didn't hear her friend calling out to her.

After a few moments Rukia seemed to snap out of her thoughts and almost jumped straight through the roof when she saw Ayame and Shun'o flying in front of her face.

"Rukia, are you okay?" Inoue asked.

"Y-yeah, I'm fine. Why did you bring those two out?" Rukia asked warily.

"You were spacing off so I thought something was wrong, but I'm glad you're all right, Rukia." Inoue said as Ayame and Shun'o returned to her hairpins.

"I was just thinking about Ichigo at the Vaizards… I really want to meet them, but I don't know how I can get in contact with them. I think they've got some kind of barrier around them that blocks out their Reiatsu. That would explain why I've never sensed them while I was here."

"Yes, that's possible," Inoue said. "Do you think we'll be able to find them? Because I don't think that Ichigo will stop training and come home anytime soon."

"I don't know, it doesn't hurt to try and see if we can find them, though. I'll check if Urahara can give me some information on this subject." Rukia's face lit up with determination. "C'mon, Inoue. Let's go to the Urahara Shop and see if we can find out where Ichigo is."

Inoue nodded and followed Rukia out, eager to see Ichigo again. And she also had to admit she was a bit curious as to who those Vaizards are.

When the two of them arrived at the little candy shop a few minutes later they heard Urahara talking with Yoruichi. Rukia and Inoue looked at each other for a moment and after a quick nod they opened the door and went inside.

"My my, what a surprise, Rukia, Inoue!" Urahara said although Rukia really wasn't convinced.

"Urahara," Rukia said. "I was wondering… do you know where-…"

"Ichigo and the Vaizards are?" Urahara interrupted her.

"You knew we were going to come today?"

"Yes, I figured you'd drop by sooner or later. But, Rukia, do you know what kind of trouble it could cause if you went looking for them? They've been hiding from everyone for a reason you know."

"Yes, I know why they went there and I also know that they hate humans and the Shinigami, but I want to try and see if I could convince them not all the Shinigami's want to harm them just because they have Hollow powers. And besides that we want to see Ichigo of course. I know he's training, but everyone needs a break now and then."

Urahara smiled at her. She really wanted to do this. "Well, Rukia," he said. "I can see what you want to achieve with the Vaizards. But I've known them for a very long time now, and it will be hard for anyone who's not a Vaizard to get befriended with them. They do not open up easily to others. Nonetheless, I'm willing to help you if this is what you really want."

Rukia who'd wanted to protest at first was smiling happily now. "Thank you, Urahara!"

"If you want to approach them there is one thing I would advise the two of you, though. If I were you I'd go alone when you meet them the first time. They do not like it when someone comes to their hideout uninvited, but if you go there with the two of you at once they'll certainly keep you out." Urahara looked at Inoue. "I think it would be for the best if you stay home today. If everything goes all right, I'm sure you'll be able to see them later this week."

Inoue sadly averted her eyes. "Yes, I think you're right, Urahara. They wouldn't want too many people coming to their hideout at once." She said softly before turning around and walking away.

"Inoue!"

"Don't worry, Rukia. I'll wait for you, and I'll go to them later this week." Inoue said before she walked out of the door.

"I know you wanted to go together Rukia," Urahara said before she could voice her complaints. "But I believe it will be much safer to go alone the first time. I'm not sure how they'll react when you show up, no outsiders have ever entered their hideout so far."

Rukia nodded sadly. "Okay, I understand. Well, let's go then."

"All right then. If you really want to do this I'll show you their hideout, Rukia." Urahara said as he waved goodbye to Yoruichi who had been silent throughout the whole affair.

Rukia gave him a small smile and walked out together with him. She followed him through the streets of Karakura Town excitedly as they walked towards the hideout. While they were walking Rukia noticed that it was a very long walk. After a while they left the busy streets behind them and walked into a deserted area. It didn't look like any human being had been here lately. Almost all the houses were ruined and Rukia wondered why they hadn't collapsed as of yet.

"We're there, Rukia," Urahara said in his usual tone as he stopped walking. "That big building over there is their hideout. There's a big barrier around it, making it impossible to enter for you. To get in all you have to do is poke the barrier and someone will probably come up to see who it is." Urahara waved his fan in front off his face before snapping it shut, revealing the big smile on his face. "Now then," he continued. "Good luck, Rukia. I hope you know what you're doing."

"Wait! Aren't you going to at least accompany me in? They'll trust me better if they see I'm with you!" Rukia said, but Urahara was already gone in a flash of Shunpo. "Damn that man!" Rukia sighed, and walked to the big structure in front of her, hoping it wouldn't collapse while she was in it. When she was in front of the grim structure she took several deep breaths and stuck her hands out and slowly walked forward until she reached the barrier. Rukia pulled back her hand and poked it twice, hoping she was doing the good thing.

---|---

Lisa sighed as she walked up the stairs. She really didn't know why they didn't have everything they needed during their training in the basement. It's not like we're going to train up here she thought as she walked to a large cabinet and started rummaging through it. When she finally found what she was looking for she grabbed a stack of bandages and walked back to the stairs leading to the basement. Before she reached it Lisa heard a disturbance outside, though. It sounded as though someone ran into the barrier, but was that even possible? She was sure no human could even get close to the barrier, Hachigen had made sure of that. Could it be a Shinigami?

Lisa growled, dropped the bandages onto the floor, and walked to the source of the sound she'd heard. The nerve those Shinigami's had. First they sentenced them to death, and now they come to them probably with some lame request. And how did a Shinigami find their hideout anyway? Lisa reached down with her hands only to find her Zanpakuto missing. That's right, it's still in the basement. Ah well, it doesn't matter. No Shinigami can beat me even without my sword.

Lisa reached the entrance of their hideout and walked through it before she charged towards the tiny girl that was waiting in front of it as if she just wanted to drop by for a visit. The eyes of the girl went wide as Lisa grabbed her by her throat and slammed her in the wall, knocking the wind out of her.

"Who the hell are you, and what're you doing here?!" Lisa roared as she took in the girl in front of her. She was a very small girl. She had pale skin and dark hair with a bang between her dark-blue eyes. The fact that she was wearing a Shinigami outfit removed all the doubt that this girl was indeed a Shinigami. Lisa wanted to beat her to a pulp right away, but decided that it would be better to let her state her purpose first, so she loosened her grip on her throat, allowing the girl to talk.

"I-I'm Kuchiki Rukia, I-I've come here to see a friend of mine." Rukia managed to get out after she took a few laboured breaths.

"Friend? Who could possibly be your friend in here, do you even know who we are?" Lisa said slamming the girl into the wall again.

"Yes, I know who you are and I also know about the awful things that happened to you and your fellow Vaizards back in Soul Society. As for my friend he's Kurosaki Ichigo." Rukia said firmly, not wanting to show fear in front of this girl.

Lisa eyebrows rose for a moment when she heard Rukia talk. That's odd, it almost looked like she really was sorry for what had happened to the Vaizards… "Ichigo?" She said asked. "How do you know him?"

"I'm the one who gave him his Shinigami powers so he could save his family. He now has his own powers of course, but before he gained those he used the powers I transferred into him." Rukia said ignoring the burning sensation in her throat.

"That so?" Lisa said as she narrowed her eyes. "You better be speaking the truth, girl. Let's go and find Ichigo. But if he doesn't remember you I promise you… I _will_ kill you."

Rukia swallowed heavily and nodded at the girl before following her inside. When they'd entered the building Rukia saw the Vaizard unsheathing a sword and stabbing it into the ground and laid the scabbard down next to it. When she looked closer Rukia saw it was her own sword. When did she get my Zanpakuto? Damn, she's fast.

Lisa picked up the bandages she'd dropped onto the floor earlier and walked to the stairs leading to the basement while she grabbed hold of Rukia's arm and dragged the girl down with her.

Once downstairs all the Vaizards were watching them, they too had noticed that someone had bumped into the barrier that Hachigen had set up around their hideout. They hadn't gone upstairs because they'd figured Lisa would take care of the intruder. What they didn't expect, however, was that she would bring the intruder who they now saw was a Shinigami inside.

"Hiyori," Lisa said as she forced Rukia to sit and sat down besides her never releasing the grip on her arm. "Could you get Ichigo for me please?"

"Wha… Why me, Lisa? If ya need him go get him yourself!" Hiyori said as she was glaring at Rukia, obviously not pleased that a Shinigami without Hollow powers was in their hideout.

"Because I don't trust any of you with Rukia, now hurry up and get him!." Lisa said in a menacing voice which caused Rukia's eyes to widen, she hadn't expected that the woman who she now knew as Lisa would try to protect her until she found out if she really was someone that could be trusted. Rukia could tell that a few people among the Vaizard really didn't approve of her being here, but somehow they didn't dare to go against Lisa.

Hiyori gave one nasty glare at Rukia, got up and turned towards the noise of breaking stone in the distance. "Oi! Ichigo!" Hiyori shouted instead of walking over to him. "Get your ass over here! We got somethin' for ya!"

Hiyori had barely finished talking before the noise stopped and a battered Ichigo appeared in front of her. "What is it that you want, Hiyori? And why's everyone so tense?" Ichigo asked.

Rukia looked from Hiyori to Ichigo. She was sure the noise from his training was pretty far away, but yet he was here almost instantaneously, since when had Ichigo become so fast?

Suddenly Lisa got up and dragged Rukia towards him. "Ichigo, just now a Shinigami tried to break through the barrier around our hideout. She says she knows you and has come on friendly terms." Lisa pointed at Rukia. "Do you know this Shinigami?" Lisa asked as she gripped Rukia's arm so hard that Rukia was afraid she had lost her blood circulation.

"Rukia! What're you doing here? Aren't you supposed to be in Soul Society to regain your powers?" Ichigo all but yelled as he recognised her and untangled her from Lisa's grasp.

"I already regained them, Ichigo." Rukia said as she cast glances to everyone who was glaring at them.

"Okay, now you've seen him. Get out, Shinigami!" Hiyori shouted.

"Shut up, fang-girl," Ichigo said as he shot a nasty glare to her. "Come, Rukia, let's go somewhere else."

"Not so fast, Ichigo." Lisa said before he could walk away with Rukia. Ichigo looked over his shoulder and gave her a nasty glare as well. "No need for that face, Ichigo. You need some bandages for your left hand, it looks awful." Lisa walked over, grabbed his hand and started wrapping the bandages around it.

Rukia looked at his hand and winced at the sight. His hand was ruined. It was covered with dry and fresh blood and some of the skin had come off. Just what kind of training does he get here? And why is his right arm bound behind his back? Rukia watched as Lisa finished bandaging his hand and walked to a secluded spot with Ichigo so they could talk privately without having to worry about Hiyori who didn't want Rukia here at all.

"I'll call the two of you when lunch is ready, Ichigo," Lisa said with a little smile as she watched them walk away.

Ichigo waved with his bandaged hand as he silently walked away together with Rukia. Ichigo chose his previous training spot for their destination. They sat down near what used to be a very large boulder. It was completely ruined and large chunks of stone lay sprayed across the floor.

"You're crazy, do you know that?" Ichigo said. "I assume you know who the Vaizards are and what they think about Shinigami's and humans?"

"Yes I know who they are and what has happened to them all those years back in Soul Society." Rukia leaned back against one of the rock formations that survived Ichigo's training. "I think it's sad that no one in Soul Society even tried to protect them besides the ones who saved them. I wish I could somehow, you know, get friendly with them."

Ichigo smiled at Rukia, she sure had a golden heart. "That's not so impossible as you would think, Rukia." Ichigo said chuckling a bit at her reaction. "You see, I've been training with them for quite some time now and I got to know a few Vaizards pretty well." Ichigo leaned back against the rock formations as well. "I think there are a few who could be friendly towards others in due time. Not all of them of course. You don't have to try to get friendly with Hiyori, Mashiro, and Kensei. And before I started training with her I would've said that no one can get friendly with Lisa as well. She was scary as hell when I first got here. After a while however she took over my training from Hiyori and she showed her other side to me. If you get the chance to get to know her she can be nice, although she's still a bit scary and strong as hell, not to mention her speed."

"Speaking of Lisa." Rukia said as she looked at Ichigo with a big grin on her face. "I think she likes you."

"What?! No way, Rukia." Ichigo said scowling. But Rukia couldn't help but notice that he had a small blush on his cheeks.

"Then tell me, Ichigo, why would a scary Vaizard like her bandage your hand? Because I don't think you asked for it." Rukia said, enjoying the conversation a lot.

"Probably just because she felt guilty. She was the one who made me do this crazy training after all."

"What exactly does she want to achieve by letting you fight with one arm, though?" Rukia asked him

"Basically she wants to train my left arm so I can fight with both my arms. Just like Kyouraku and herself she wants to make me ambidextrous and combine that with my speed. Before this training we've worked a lot on my speed and I'm getting really fast already."

"Yeah I noticed."

"So, how have the others been doing? Are you here alone or did you come to Karakura Town together with a few others?"

Rukia nodded and starting explaining everything about the recent events to Ichigo without mentioning Tatsuki at all. She told him about her promotion, how Toushiro and Rangiku had come to get her and they had gone to Karakura Town together with Ikkaku and Yumichika. Rukia also told him that his father tried to 'kidnap' her together with Yuzu. Ichigo's eyes widened and he smiled widely when Rukia told him that his little sister had successfully used a Kidou spell on her.

When Rukia was done with talking Lisa walked over to them and told them that lunch was ready. Ichigo nodded a bit uneasily as he saw her and walked behind her, staring at her long braid while Rukia behind him was grinning wickedly. You really have to tell that boy everything she thought. He's such a naïve kid.

Rukia and Ichigo sat down next to Lisa and silently ate their lunch. Apart from a few complaints from Hiyori everyone was silent until Hachigen suddenly looked up to the stairs and frowned before speaking up.

"Someone has gone through the barrier."

"What do you mean, Hachigen?" Rose asked. "How could someone break through your barrier?"

"I don't think the intruder broke in, it's more like he or she snuck in."

"Is that even possible? Rukia here couldn't get through, so it can't be a Shinigami. Is it a Vaizard?" Love asked although he was fairly certain that besides them there were no other Vaizards.

They all remained silent until a girl with long orange-brown hair descended the stairs uncertainly. She looked at all the faces looking at her and when she saw Ichigo and Rukia she gave them a little smile and walked over to them.

"Oi! Who the hell do you think you are, human?! We ain't some kind of tea house!" Hiyori shouted.

"Shut up Hiyori, I know her." Ichigo said before the girl could attack Inoue.

"Inoue, what're you doing here? I thought we decided that you would stay home." Rukia said when Inoue reached them.

"Yes, I know that, but Toushiro and Rangiku were bickering again and I got kind of curious so I came here to wait for you to come out, but when I saw the barrier around this building I decided to take a look." She replied as Hachigen looked at her hairpins suspiciously. "And I also was curious to see how Ichigo was doing and what his training was of course!." Inoue continued looking at Ichigo.

"I'm fine, Inoue." Ichigo said with a sad smile. "I'm really sorry I left so suddenly, I know I promised to train together, but I really had no other choice. These people were the only ones that could save me and make me stronger for the upcoming fights."

"That's okay, Ichigo."

"I hope you can stay for a little while." Ichigo said as he looked to the other Vaizards as if daring them to send her away. "I'll show you how my training is going."

Inoue nodded and watched Ichigo as he got up and walked away, ready to start his training with new vigour before she followed him.

"Oh, before I forget." Rukia said as she turned her attention to Lisa. "Before I left Soul Society Kyouraku Shunsui asked us to give you a message should we meet you in Karakura Town. He guessed you'd be here and it seems he was right."

Lisa rolled her eyes at the mention of her old Captain. "What did the lazy ass want to tell me?"

"He wanted us to tell you that he was sorry he didn't come looking for you and that he wanted to meet you sometime soon." Rukia said which caused Lisa to smile a little, it looks like he has grown up a little bit after all she thought, but that thought came crashing back to earth when Rukia continued talking. "And I'm also supposed to casually mention that he's free again, but I don't think he should've asked that."

"That man…" Lisa said trembling with rage as she got up. "Come, Rukia. I'm going to show you just how brave Kyouraku is for saying that. He knows my wrath better than anyone and he should know I'm not interested." Lisa started walking the path Inoue and Ichigo had just walked and motioned for Rukia to follow her as she displayed one of her evil grins on her face.

When they arrived at the spot Lisa positioned herself next to Ichigo and started to hit the boulder with sickening thuds.

"C'mon, Ichigo! You can do better than that." She shouted. "You are afraid, afraid of the stone, afraid of the enemy. Lose your fear and strike with full force! You can't possibly think you can survive this war if you're too scared to hit your targets."

Ichigo looked at Lisa who was turning her part of the boulder into dust. What got her so worked up? But instead of questioning her sanity Ichigo nodded and started hitting the boulder with all the strength he could muster. With each punch he cried out in pain, but he kept hitting it as hard as he could.

After two minutes they heard a loud crunching noise and Ichigo screamed as he fell to the floor as the entire boulder collapsed.

"Oh dear, I think he overdid it a little. Maybe I shouldn't told him that." Lisa said as she walked over to Ichigo and inspected his hand. "I think you shattered your hand, Ichigo, you've got to concentrate your Reiatsu in your hand when you start hitting like that. The rocks in this area have been strengthened by Hachigen, didn't you notice that while training here today?"

"N-no, I didn't, I think I got so used to our other training spot that I thought that all the rocks were the same around here." Ichigo said weakly. "But I have to say your training is as enlightening as always, Lisa. Well done."

"Silly boy. Come, let's go to Hachigen and see if he can fix that hand of yours." Lisa said as she helped him get up and they walked towards Hachigen, leaving a stunned Inoue and Rukia behind them.

"Just what the hell was that?" Rukia asked a wide-eyed Inoue.

"I-I don't know…"

"That girl is fucking insane, and it looked almost as if this happens all the time. Now I know what Ichigo meant when he told me she must be feeling a little guilty about this training of hers." Rukia looked to Inoue before they followed the two Vaizards.

Hachigen sighed as he saw Lisa and Ichigo walk over to him. Not again… "You're going to kill him one of these days, Lisa."

"Nah, don't worry, he can take it. Can you heal his hand, Hachigen? I think he shattered it."

"Shattered?! I don't know if I can fix that, it'll take a lot of work. Come here, Ichigo. I'll see what I can do."

Ichigo swallowed heavily, his injury was worse than he'd thought it was.

"No need for that face, Ichigo. I'm sure I can fix it, it might just take a little time, that's all." Hachigen said before starting to examine his hand and beginning the healing process. After ten minutes, however, there hadn't been much progress, this was when Inoue spoke up.

"Um, sir. Do you mind if I try to heal him? I can use Ayame and Shun'o and see if that helps a bit."

Hachigen looked at her hairpins for a moment, and let her try. It wouldn't hurt to work on it together.

Inoue touched both of her hairpins with her hands before chanting: "Soten Kisshun, I reject!" Her hairpins glowed and two figures shot out of it before encasing Ichigo's hand with a barrier that stretched between the two of them. Inoue kneeled in front of Ichigo and put her hands on the barrier, strengthening it.

After another ten minutes Ichigo's hand was almost completely healed much to the amazement of everyone who saw her healing Ichigo. His hand was still extremely sore, but at least his bones were mended. "Thank you, Inoue. It feels much better now. I didn't know you were so good with this." He said as he tested his newly healed hand.

"No, not at all, I'm not that good with it." Inoue said evasively.

"You're quite wrong, Inoue." Hachigen said. "This ability of yours is quite rare and powerful. It is beyond the powers of normal healing spells. I've been curious about your power ever since you got here, no mere human can just get through my barrier, it looks like we've got a similar power. Although yours is much better, it seems."

"R-really?"

"Yes, it is. It looks like you can use your power to deny what has happened in your barrier and reverse time. At least that's what I think. I'd like to train with you and investigate your powers, would you like to stay here as well? I'm sure Ichigo wouldn't mind, the two of you can even train together at some point." When Inoue glanced at Lisa uncertainly Hachigen chuckled. "Don't worry, you don't have to train with Lisa. I'll make sure you won't get killed during your training here." Hachigen looked at Lisa. "Something you ought to try as well."

Inoue's face lit up at that, but her face faltered as she looked at Rukia.

"Don't look at me like that, Inoue." Rukia said with a big smile. "You should stay here if that's what you want, I'm sure you can grow strong here, Inoue. And I got a town to look after, anyway."

Inoue smiled happily and she hugged her friend. "Thank you, Rukia."

"No problem, Inoue. Just promise me you'll grow stronger and I want to see you and Ichigo soon so I can see how the two of you have improved." Rukia said brightly before turning her attention to all the Vaizards. "I'll be going now, I'm sorry for the trouble I caused and I hope you can prepare Ichigo and Inoue for the war." Rukia suddenly bowed to the Vaizards and continued talking. "I also want you to know that I completely disagree with Yamamoto's decision all those years ago, if I was there I would've tried to help you together with Urahara. I know you hate people like me, but I hope that someday we might be able to accept each other for who we are." Rukia got up and walked to the stairs as the stunned Vaizards watched her leave.

Lisa was the first to break out of the trance and quickly hurried up the stairs, hoping she could catch Rukia before she left.

"Rukia! Wait a minute." Lisa shouted when she spotted the small girl who was pulling her sword out of the floor.

"What's the matter, Lisa?" Rukia asked uncertain what her intention were.

"I… um… what you said. I think that if really meant it it was a very brave thing to say. It shows that you've got a strong and kind heart. There are not many people who would ignore orders given by the Captain-Commander himself just to save people like us. Not even Kyouraku went that far to save me even though I know he wanted to." Lisa was uncomfortably trying to find the right words to say. This was a very rare sight. "I… I'd like to invite you to come here in two weeks time. I'm preparing Ichigo to fight Hiyori. That match is being held to prove to that little fang-girl that she only has a big mouth. I made a bet with her that I can make Ichigo stronger than her in one month's time. Do you want to come and watch the battle together with me?"

Rukia smiled as she pulled her sword loose. "I would like that, Lisa. I'm glad you're helping Ichigo to grow stronger. I'll see you in two weeks."

Lisa grinned her famous grin again before continuing. "Good, and if I were you I'd bring your sword with you, I might even want to fight with you."

Rukia laughed, Lisa was her former self again. It looks like it's very rare to see her so uncomfortable like she was a few moments ago. "Of course, Lisa. I'll get ready to beat you." Rukia said and she walked out of the ruined building, on her way to Inoue's house as she sheathed her sword.

---|---

Rukia covered her forehead with the palm of her hand as she stood in front of Inoue's house. She could already hear Toushiro who was whining that Matsumoto should learn to behave herself more in some else's house. Those two could go on and on about the smallest things. Toushiro was scolding Matsumoto all the time, but Rukia knew that the two of them just liked to bicker and whine at each other. They didn't care if they had a valid reason for it or not.

After a few moments Rukia walked inside and entered the living room, the two members of the 10th squad immediately stopped arguing and looked at her. "Hey Rukia, do you know where Inoue went? She suddenly left some time ago."

"She'll be staying with the Vaizards from now on. They agreed to train her when she showed them her power. They were very curious about it and wanted to know more about it." Rukia said. "I have to say I'm pretty curious as well, it seems she can reverse certain events inside her barriers. I think she'll tell us more about it after she has trained a bit with the Vaizards."

"So that's where she went." Toushiro said as his eyebrows rose. "How did the two of you get there without getting killed by the Vaizards? I thought they hated Shinigami's."

"There's no doubt about that, they really hate Shinigami's." Rukia stroked her throat which was still a bit sore. "But when I told them I knew Ichigo they calmed down enough so that I could talk with him and eventually one of the Vaizards even invited me to come back in two weeks."

"Who asked you that?"

"Lisa."

"What?! I thought Lisa was the worst of the lot, from what I've heard she could be pretty scary." Toushiro asked pondering over everything he'd heard about the former Vice-captain from the 8th squad.

"She is outright scary indeed, but she's the one who trains Ichigo and since I know him pretty good as well she invited me to come over and check his progress in two weeks."

"Poor boy," Toushiro said. "Well I hope you know what you're doing, Rukia. If I were you I'd be more careful with them."

"Trust me Toushiro, I know what I'm doing. I didn't become a Vice-captain by being dumb." Rukia looked around and saw that Matsumoto had made a complete mess of the place, not wanting to be the one to clean it all up Rukia decided to leave again. "I'm going to check out the town and see if there's anything wrong there, you don't have to wait for me with dinner!" Rukia said, having enough experience with Matsumoto's cooking abilities.

"Alright, I'll see you later today then, Rukia." Toushiro replied.

---|---

Later that evening Rukia was wandering around the town. Apart from one ordinary Hollow Rukia hadn't spotted anything else that was wrong. She hadn't noticed, though, that a cloaked figure had been trailing her all day since she left the hideout inhabited by the Vaizards.

When Rukia heard her stomach grumble in protest she figured she'd better go and get something to eat from a nearby convenience store. She didn't think her stomach could handle another dinner made by Matsumoto or Inoue so she went on her way to get some decent food. When she passed Ichigo's house she stood still for a moment as she smelled the delicious aroma's coming from the kitchen. That Yuzu really can cook very good, I thought Isshin was just bragging to keep me in there, Rukia thought.

Rukia looked around and she noticed that Isshin was standing in front of the house. "Just give up, Mr. Kurosaki. I'm not going to stay at your place." Rukia said, but she was distracted when a small voice behind her chanted something.

"Bakudou #4 Hainewa!" Yuzu cried and she bound Rukia with a rope-like Kidou spell. Isshin cheered and walked over to Rukia. Together with Yuzu he dragged an angry Rukia inside.

"What's all this about I told you I'm not going to stay here!" Rukia all but screamed.

Once they were inside both Isshin and Yuzu went on their knees in front of Rukia and looked at her with watery puppy-eyes. "Please, Rukia." They said in unison. "At least eat dinner here with us."

Rukia sighed, she was very hungry, and the food smelled really nice. "Alright, alright, I'll stay and have some dinner with you." She said after breaking free from the Kidou spell.

Isshin and Yuzu hugged each other. "I knew that food was her weak point!" Isshin cried out. "Good job on the dinner Yuzu, now let's get ready to eat before it get's cold."

Rukia couldn't help but smile as she followed Yuzu to the dining room. Ichigo's sisters were really cute, and they must have been a little lonely since Ichigo went away for his training. "Actually I wanted to drop by sooner or later, anyway." Rukia said. "I saw Ichigo today and I wanted to tell you how he was doing with the Vaizards."

Isshin seemed to get a little more serious after Rukia had said that. "Oh, really?" He said happily. "How is he?"

"Yes, I did. And he's fine, I'll tell you about him during this excellent dinner, I'm famished." Rukia said as she sat down next to Karin who was surprised to see that Yuzu had actually succeeded in convincing Rukia to stay together with their father.

During the dinner everyone was silent except Rukia who was telling about Ichigo and how he was doing with the Vaizards. The whole Kurosaki family was hanging on her lips throughout the whole story, but all too soon they were all finished with eating, and it was time for Rukia to go home. She figured Toushiro and Matsumoto were wondering what was keeping her by now.

"You're leaving already?" Isshin asked when Rukia got up.

"Yes, I think Matsumoto and Toushiro will be wondering what's keeping me. Thanks a lot for the dinner, I really enjoyed it, Yuzu."

"Can't you sleep here until the war is over?" Yuzu asked sadly. "I mean ever since Ichi-nii is gone it's pretty silent around here, apart from my dad of course. But I think it'll be pretty quiet at Inoue's place now as well since she's going to stay with the Vaizards. I'm sure we can become good friends, and I'll cook for you every day."

Rukia paused when she heard the sincerity in her voice. So she really was a bit lonely now without her brother. And she really had a point about Inoue, it would be pretty boring to listen to Matsumoto and Toushiro all day long if Inoue wasn't there to keep her company. And the food certainly was appealing, Matsumoto's food would taste like ashes compared to Yuzu's food. Well, it tastes like that even if I don't compare it, Rukia thought.

"Yes, please stay." Karin said. "You could tell us some stories when you made Ichigo a Shinigami or when he went away to save you in Soul Society."

"Just how much do the two of you know already about your brother?" Rukia asked amazed. When they didn't answer Rukia took a deep breath. "Alright, I'll stay here. But I have to get my stuff from Inoue's place first and tell Toushiro I'll be staying here from now on. God, I hope they don't tear the place apart without me and Inoue there."

"No need for that!" Isshin said happily. "I already brought your stuff here and told Toushiro you'll be staying here for a while. You'll be sleeping in the guest room, or do you want to sleep in Ichigo's wardrobe instead?"

"You did what? Why did you bring my stuff here already without asking me first?!" Rukia roared.

---|---

Back at the Vaizards hideout everyone was silently eating their dinner. Everyone but Ichigo that is. He had become rather skilled with eating with one hand, but since his still hurt a lot despite the healing he'd received from Inoue. It was true she was very skilled, but Ichigo guessed if she trained more she would be able to heal injuries completely. He really was glad she'd been able to heal his hand, but it would be nice if he wouldn't have had to endure the pain from it.

Ichigo's left arm was shaking like mad when he tried to bring another forkful of food to his mouth. Instead of his mouth his food ended up on the ground… again. Ichigo let out an annoyed sigh. Damn it, why did I had to get my hand shattered? All the other Vaizards were leaving already since they were done with eating, they all put their plates in the sink and went upstairs, probably to whine about Inoue being here.

Only Ichigo, Lisa and Inoue were left in the basement now. Ichigo was about to give up on eating when Lisa suddenly got up and sat down next to him. Ichigo looked at her questioningly as she grabbed his fork and tried to feed him.

"What do you think you're doing Lisa?!" Ichigo asked as he backed away from the fork.

"What do you think? I'm going to feed you of course. It's also partly my fault that you can't eat now, so it only makes sense that I make up for it. Now stop being so pathetic and come here. We can't have you faint during our training because you weren't able to eat." Lisa's left eyebrow slowly rose. "Well? I'm waiting, Ichigo."

Ichigo grumbled but allowed himself to be fed anyway. Inoue tried to keep a straight face as she watched Lisa and Ichigo, but it proved to be very hard. She didn't know that the scary Lisa could be so kind. Ichigo was really lucky to train with her, despite her evil training methods.

"You're really lucky with your friends though, Ichigo." Lisa said as she watched Ichigo chew. "Inoue here seems to be a faithful friend of yours, but also that Rukia amazed me."

"What do you mean she amazed you?" Ichigo asked after he had swallowed the bite.

"Well, she really seemed to care about what happened to us all those years ago, she's the first Shinigami that actually wished she could've helped us. And she would've done it even if that meant she was going against the Captain-Commander."

Ichigo smiled. "Yes, that sounds like Rukia alright. She has always followed her heart, just like her previous Vice-captain Shiba Kaien. She told me about him the day after I saved her together with Inoue and a few others."

"Why did she needed to be saved? She looked pretty powerful in my eyes."

"She is, but she got sentenced to death because she gave me my Shinigami powers. That should normally not even be a crime worth more than a few years in prison, but she was sentenced to be executed on the Soukyoku hill by Central 46 anyway. It had been Aizen at the time who gave the orders because he wanted to get the Hougyoku that was buried in her soul, but still no one in Soul Society dared to question the order. No one but Kyouraku and Ukitake that is of course." Ichigo took another bite before continuing. "Not even her brother tried to rescue her so I did it with a bit of help from my friends. And in the end Renji, Ukitake and Kyouraku also helped me out of course."

Lisa's eyes widened. "The Hougyoku was buried in Rukia's soul? I didn't know that. Urahara told us that Aizen had recovered the item, but he didn't tell us exactly how he'd done it. No wonder Rukia tried so hard to get friendly with us. Almost everyone in Soul Society had abandoned her as well. But luckily they still accept her there. I'm glad that my Captain tried to help her as well, though. I didn't know he would move his lazy bum and turn against Central 46 just to save a single Shinigami."

Ichigo smiled. "Yes, he even fought with Yamamoto together with Ukitake until they were warned about Aizen's betrayal."

Lisa laughed. "He finally get's up from his lazy ass and he starts fighting the Captain-Commander from all people right away." Lisa got up and put the plate Ichigo's had emptied during the talk in the sink. "Now it's time to go upstairs for us as well."Lisa said," I hope your hand will be better tomorrow because I think we can start changing the training method a little. You've grown a lot already with your left arm."

Ichigo grinned widely at that and went up the stairs together with Inoue and Lisa. He was eager to start the next day. Finally something else to do instead of breaking my hands on those stupid boulders all the time. But I shouldn't get to excited already, though. It would just be something for her to come up with a training that's even worse than this…

---|---|---

_And here's chapter ten!_

_I hope you enjoyed reading it!_

_Note:__ As most of you probably know I'm skipping the entire Bounto Arc in this Fanfic, so there's much more time I can use for the Arrancar and Heuco Mundo Arc. That's also the reason why there isn't a lot of action in it yet, but trust me that will change soon! The fighting will start in chapter 11 most likely or else in chapter 12. _

_Anyway, please review. I made Lisa a little bit nicer with Rukia than I planned to do in this chapter, but personally I liked it this way. Tell me what you think about it!_

R&R!


	11. Chapter 11: Vengeance will be mine!

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Bleach or any of the characters.

_**DarkJason: **__In this chapter you'll get to see just how mad Rukia is at Isshin, hehe. And on top of that I'll be showing a little more romance between Ichigo and Lisa, I hope you'll like that part. And about the fight between Hiyori and Ichigo, I got a few more things I want to do before that, so in a few chapters you'll be able to see the two of them in action!_

_**Bruuz: **__I know I said Rukia wouldn't be getting a big role in my story, but eventually I decided against it. She is a very fun character to write and a close friend of Ichigo, after all. Inoue will probably start to get a little stronger in the next few chapters, and as a side not I'm glad you like the style of humour I'm putting in this story!_

_**MKTerra: **__Fluff is always fun to write between Lisa and Ichigo! And I decided to make both Rukia and Inoue not too jealous. I know Inoue is pretty jealous in canon, but I like it better this way. That's just my personal opinion, though. _

**Chapter 11: ****Vengeance will be mine!**

Ichigo slowly woke up when the first streaks of sunlight crept over his face. He sat up in bed and stretched his left hand a few times to test it. Ichigo was pleased to notice that his hand wasn't sore at all. A good night's sleep could do wonders it seems. Ichigo yawned, got up, and started walking towards the shower. He needed a long, hot shower before he continued training. Lisa had promised him a slightly different training today, and Ichigo really couldn't wait to start it. He was growing stronger everyday, but he knew he was still no match for the Espada's yet.

The picture of the Espada who'd introduced himself as Ulquiorra sprang into his mind as he made his way to the shower. The image of the impassive man with those two ridiculous green lines underneath his eyes was something he could never forget. Ichigo wanted to forget that man, but not before he'd had his revenge. Without showing any emotion whatsoever the man had killed Tatsuki right in front of his eyes. Ichigo didn't think even Kuchiki Byakuya was capable of doing something like that without any show of emotion. It was true that Byakuya could control his emotions very well, but no one would be able to master it like Ulquiorra. It looked like he wasn't capable of any emotion whatsoever. Yes, Ichigo would keep growing stronger and stronger until he was able to crush Ulquiorra and Arisawa Tatsuki would be avenged!

Ichigo was so lost in his thoughts that he didn't even look up when his hand reached for the door leading to the bathroom. Instead of the door he felt something quite soft, though. Ichigo froze and slowly looked up and saw that he was holding Lisa's right breast. He gulped when he saw that she only had a towel wrapped around her body and immediately pulled his hand back, blushing like mad.

"Perv," she said simply after she glared at his blushing face for a few moments.

"I-I…" Ichigo stammered, knowing that this could very well be his last moment on earth. "I… I just… I wanted to… I-.."

The rest of his stammers couldn't be heard because Lisa grabbed him by his throat and slammed against a nearby wall. She brought her face inches from his eyes causing him to look up in fear. He literally tried to sank back through the wall behind him.

Even though Ichigo was almost wetting his pants he couldn't help but notice that Lisa truly looked beautiful like this. He was very aware of her beautiful face which was inches from his, and he felt her wet hair that was not in her usual braid for the first time tickling his face, and her tiny nose was inches from his, he had to admit was pretty cute. Ichigo didn't have much time to think about it, though, because Lisa continued to lynch him with her death glare.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" Ichigo suddenly cried out in an attempt to calm her down a little. "I was so deep in thought I didn't see you were standing there. I just automatically reached out for the door. I swear on my dad's 300 year old grave I didn't do it on purpose!"

Lisa looked at him and grinned at his apology, he sure was such an innocent boy, if only he would loosen up a bit. "Well," she said dryly. "I think it's safe to assume your left hand is back to normal, so I think we can start our training again today."

Ichigo couldn't believe his ears. Was she just forgiving him just like this? "Y-you're not going to kill me?" He asked cautiously.

"Hmm… let's see." Lisa said her face still inches from his face. "I could forgive you, but I don't know if I'm in the mood to do that right now. What was it you were thinking about anyway? I mean it must take a lot to not notice such a beauty in front of you." She finished teasingly.

But, instead of being embarrassed Ichigo's face faltered. "I… I was thinking about the man who killed Tatsuki in front of my eyes. I want to make that bastard pay for what he has done to her, and to everyone who was close to her." He said sadly.

Lisa's eyes softened when she saw his miserable face, she couldn't tease someone who was as miserable and cute as he was right now. "Well…" Lisa said a bit awkwardly. "You're lucky you're my favourite student. If it was Shinji I would've killed you right away."

Ichigo smiled a little at that. "Gee, thanks."

"Don't thank me yet, Ichigo." Lisa said smirking. "I said I wouldn't kill you, but I didn't say I'll just let you walk away." Ichigo visibly paled as he looked at her smirk. "But don't worry, Ichigo. I won't hurt you know, but you do owe me one now."

Ichigo laughed a bit at that. "I can live with that. Just tell me when I have to return the favor, Lisa."

"Sure, Ichigo." Lisa said. "I also got a piece of advice for you, Ichigo. You have to stop blaming yourself for Tatsuki's death. There was nothing you could've done to prevent it. I don't think even I could've stopped it if I was there." When Ichigo remained silent she continued. "Now, get in the shower. You stink. I can't have you training with me if you smell like this." Lisa said with a grin and she gave him a quick kiss on his forehead before walking away so she could get dressed.

Ichigo watched Lisa walk away, and absentmindedly touched his forehead. Did she just kiss me? He shook his head and walked inside the bathroom to take a shower. He turned on the water and attempted to drive the image of Lisa with nothing more then a towel wrapped around her body out of his mind. This proved to be very difficult, but in the end he managed to do it nonetheless.

Breakfast that day was quite awkward for Ichigo. He kept stealing glances at Lisa. He wasn't sure if the kiss she'd given him was only meant to tease him or also something else… He couldn't dwell on that now, though. He had to prepare himself for whatever the new training was she had in store for him. After everyone was finished with eating Ichigo got up, dropped his plate in the sink, and waited for Lisa to explain the new training to him.

"So, are you ready for your new training, Ichigo?" Lisa asked.

"I think so, it has been so long since I used my right arm, but I think both my arms are equally powerful now."

"You think so?" Lisa asked sceptically. "I don't Ichigo. Let's test your arms out, and see which one is stronger." Lisa walked over to him and released his right arm. "Let's continue your old training for a few minutes and punch the strengthened boulder with both of your arms simultaneously."

Ichigo nodded and did just that after stretching his right arm a bit, he hadn't used it much for the last few days. He started with some slow punches with his arms to get them used to the stone, but after a while he was hitting the boulder with all the strength he could muster. Ichigo was surprised to see that his left arm had surpassed his right arm in strength now, but then he remembered Lisa telling him something like that usually happens when you're right-handed before starting the ambidextrous training.

"Okay, you're right. My left arm is stronger now." Ichigo said after a few minutes.

"That's right. But the big question is now: Can you fight with you left and right arm together during battle?"

"Of course I can! I've been training my left arm a lot, why shouldn't I be able to fight with it?!" Ichigo said indignantly.

Lisa smirked. "We'll see about that. If you can only hit me once in the next five hours with those fists of yours I will apologise to you and you can use me as your personal slave for the rest of the day."

"And if I don't?" Ichigo asked tentatively, he knew Lisa good enough to know that there was a price to be paid if he failed.

"If you can't hit me you'll have to obey every command I give you for the next seven days." Lisa said with her famous grin on her face.

"That's not fair!" Ichigo shouted. "If I have to obey you for seven days it would only be fair that I can order you around for seven days as well if I win."

"Afraid to lose, Ichigo?"

"Not at all, I could keep up with you when we were playing that game of eternal tag, so I don't doubt I'll be able to hit you at least once." Ichigo said as he charged forward. Lisa merely laughed at him and dodged his attack.

"Show me what you've got then, Ichigo. You won't be able to hit me if you keep throwing empty threats at me."

While Ichigo was chasing after Lisa at full speed Inoue was starting her training together with Hachigen.

"Well, Inoue. Since I almost know nothing about that rare power of yours I think it would be for the best if you showed me everything you know about it. Is that time-reversal ability the only thing you can do, or do you also have other things you can do with those hairpins?" Hachigen asked.

Inoue nodded uncertainly, she was still a little uncomfortable with the Vaizards. So far only Hachigen seemed to accept her, although Lisa had been nice to her as well. Inoue figured that was only because she was a friend of Ichigo, but it was a start at least. "Yes I also got two other skills with my Shun Shun Rikka." Inoue said.

"Can you show them to me?"

"Yes, I can. The first one is used as a shield to protect me from incoming attacks. It rejects what's on the other side of the barrier." Inoue touched her hairpins with her hands and started chanting. "Hinagiku, Lily, Baigon. Santen Kesshun, I reject!"

Three fairy-like creatures shot from her hairpins and created a shield in front of her.

"So you've got both a healing and a protecting barrier, I assume you also got something you can use to attack as well?" Hachigen asked.

Inoue nodded. "My attacking ability rejects both sides of the barrier." Inoue raised her hands to her hairpins and started chanting again. "Tsubaki. Koten Zanshun, I reject!" The last of her fairy-like creatures shot out of her hairpins and Inoue fired it towards the rocks. Tsubaki sped towards it, and he succeeded in shattering the rock, although it seemed to be very hard for him.

"Oi, what was that, woman?" He reprimanded Inoue once he returned to her side. "There was no killing intent in that attack whatsoever, if this was a real battle I'd be killed by now. You need to mean it or we all get in trouble and we won't be able to help you!"

Inoue's face faltered a bit. "I-I'm sorry,Tsubaki," she said and the four figures returned to her hairpins.

"Hmm, that's interesting." Hachigen said after a while. "It looks like your attacks are based on your willpower. You have to have your heart in your attacks to strengthen them, it makes sense I suppose. Beside that I also noticed that you can use your attacks simultaneously without returning them to your hairpins, I think we can do something with that. If you use two or three of your skills at once you'll be able to fight more efficiently." Hachigen smiled at Inoue. "I think you can become strong, Inoue. As long as you want to grow there's room for you to grow." Hachigen turned his attention to Lisa and Ichigo. "Now let's watch Ichigo's training for a bit. It's always funny to see Ichigo get his ass whipped by Lisa, I wonder if he'll be able to hit her this time. It's a very risky bet she's pulled him in."

---|---

Rukia glared at Isshin as she was eating lunch together with the Kurosaki family. She really appreciated that they let her sleep and eat here, but Rukia still thought that Isshin crossed the line in his attempts to haul her in. Yuzu had helped him of course, but Rukia wasn't mad at her, she figured Yuzu just wanted some company since her brother had left to train with the Vaizards. And had helped her crazy father for that reason.

Rukia looked up from her food and tried to lighten the dark mood hanging over the table a bit. "So," she said addressing Yuzu and Karin. "What have the two of you been doing while Ichigo has been training with the Vaizards?"

"Daddy has been learning me and Karin some Kidou spells. We're not very good yet, but it's a lot of fun, and I think we'll be able to take care of ourselves in the war if we keep training." Yuzu said. "I wished I could see some of the higher level Kidou spells, though." She continued as she looked at her father who started doing acrobatics in the living room.

"Ah! But we can't have that! If I show my powerful spells to the two of you it could get dangerous, and we can't have that, can we now?" Isshin said as he returned to the kitchen and hung from the lamp hanging above the dinner table with his legs.

Rukia sighed at the man, she wished he would stop that already. But suddenly her face lit up as an brilliant idea formed in her head. "Would you like me to show you a few spells, Yuzu?" Rukia asked. "I'm pretty skilled with Kidou spells so I think I could teach you a thing or two as well."

"Oh, do you really want to do that for us, Rukia? That would be awesome!" Yuzu said happily.

"Of course, Yuzu." Rukia said. She had an evil grin on her face as she turned her attention to Isshin who was still hanging from the lamp with his face down. "Carriage of thunder, bridge of a spinning wheel, with light, divide this into six! Bakudou #61, Rikujyou kourou!" When Rukia finished the chanting six identical rods of yellow light appeared and bound Isshin on the spot, rendering him unable to move.

Isshin's eyes grew wide. "Oi, Rukia… Do you think this is necessary?" He asked tentatively.

"Yes, it is. I need to show Yuzu and Karin what they can achieve if they work hard, there's no better way to give them motivation for their training." Rukia said as Yuzu and Karin stared at her with admiration. "Come Yuzu, Karin. Let's go to the backyard. I'll teach you some things I learned from my own nii-sama." Yuzu squealed in delight and left the room together with Karin without even looking at her dad.

"Oi! Don't leave me hanging here, Rukia." Isshin yelled at her retreating back.

Rukia turned around. "Revenge tastes sweet." She said smirking.

"All the blood is streaming to my head, I didn't ask for this!"

"I didn't ask to be kidnapped twice, either." Rukia said. "You should know not to mess with a Kuchiki! Good luck breaking out of that spell while your still in your Gigai, Isshin. You can try what you want, but it'll be useless. This one of my best spells." Rukia said as she walked outside.

"Damn those Kuchiki's." Isshin muttered as he was all alone in the dining room now.

---|---

"C'mon, Ichigo. That all you got?" Lisa smirked as she raised her speed even more. Ichigo could keep up with her most of the time, but he couldn't combine his speed with fighting very well. Every time he tried to hit her she could get away from him. He was getting better, but he had a lot to learn to be able to beat her. He had come close to hit her twice, though. Lisa had had to use Sonido to get away from him. It wasn't as fast as it should be without her mask on, but it still gave her an insane amount of speed. She figured that if Ichigo knew how to use Sonido she would've lost the bet already.

As Lisa ran away from Ichigo her mind drifted off the little accident they'd had this morning at the bathroom. At first she'd been mad at him, she'd almost slammed him straight through the wall, but after he had apologised she had calmed down a little. If it had been someone else groping her like that she didn't think that person would be alive right now. It also helped that Ichigo really didn't do it on purpose. She'd seen him coming as she walked out of the door leading to the bathroom. He had a sad expression on his face and was spacing off as his feet automatically led him to his destination. He had frozen when he suddenly touched her breast. Lisa thought his face was quite comical at that moment, but being herself she had to intimidate him before letting him speak. It seemed he still was a little depressed about the death of Tatsuki. After Lisa had heard him talk about his friend she'd felt really bad for him, and wanted to forgive him right away. It wasn't like she really minded what the boy did, he had seen nothing he wasn't supposed to see because she was wrapped in her towel. She had to keep up appearances, though. So she just made it so that he was in her debt, that could always be useful. And after today's training she could give him a little payback as well.

When Ichigo's fist almost connected with the left side of her face she snapped out of her thoughts and concentrated herself on the training again. It wouldn't do to be caught by him while she was planning her revenge. They'd been going at it for three hours now so she only had two more to go. Unless he could use Sonido she had nothing to worry about, though.

"Well," Ichigo said as he stopped running. "I think it's time for our old tricks isn't it?" He looked up with an evil grin as his mask formed over his eyes who were turning yellow. "I've only got two hours left, anyway."

Lisa grinned, she was surprised Ichigo hadn't started using his Hollow mask from the beginning. He probably wanted to get used to the combination of fighting and running at the same time without relying on his Hollow powers too much. "If you insist," she said. Lisa didn't want to wager her chances to keep running from him when he was using his mask so she also called out her Hollow powers and her diamond-shaped mask formed as well. Personally she liked her mask best from all the Vaizards. There were not much masks she liked from her fellow Vaizards, especially Mashiro's, her mask didn't look like a Hollow mask at all in her opinion. Only Ichigo's mask was one she liked a bit, but maybe that was only because she was training with him and got kind of used to it by now.

"You should know, though," Lisa continued. "My Sonido is unbeatable when I got my mask out."

"If you've got time to talk you should be running, Lisa." Ichigo roared. He charged forward and nearly grazed her face with his left hand before he turned in mid air and attempted to continue his attack with his right arm, but Lisa easily dodged him and disappeared with the static booming sound that Ichigo associated with Sonido.

"Get ready to face your enslavement, Ichigo." She said as she reappeared behind him. "I think the next seven days will be the best week of my life!"

Shinji frowned as he looked at Ichigo who was chasing Lisa and aiming punches and kicks at her, not that any of them hit, though. "What got those two so worked up? I thought they stopped that game of eternal tag already." He asked at the Vaizards who were all watching the two.

"Lisa got him into a bet again." Rose said.

"Wha? Again? Those two keep doin' those ridiculous things." Shinji said a bit annoyed.

"It seems so, this time he has to hit Lisa and their freedom is the wager."

"Freedom?"

"Yes, if Ichigo loses Lisa is allowed to use him as a personal slave for seven days, not that she isn't doing that already, though." Rose said with a chuckle. "But if Ichigo wins he can use Lisa as a slave for the rest of this day."

"Heh, Lisa sure knows how ta keep things intrestin' for us." Shinji looked around and spotted Hiyori sulking at the side, purposefully not looking at the training. "Oi, Hiyori." Shinji said as he sat down next to her. "Don't ya think ya ought to start trainin'a bit as well? That kid is gettin' pretty strong already, he might even be able to beat you in two weeks time."

"What did ya say, Shinji?" Hiyori yelled as she turned around to look at him. "I didn't quite catch that."

"I said ya ought ta start trainin' already, stupid."

"I'm not stupid, dickhead! Quit callin' me stupid all the time!" Hiyori roared.

Inoue looked at the two uncertainly. "Do they always do that?" Inoue asked Hachigen as Hiyori and Shinji started bickering.

Hachigen smiled. "No mostly they start beating each other up instead of bickering." He said. "Or well, Hiyori starts beating the crap out of Shinji at least. Unless he has tried something stupid with Lisa already. He did that two weeks ago. Some of the Vaizards suddenly started training because they heard a new Vaizard would be coming here. Shinji wanted to train with Lisa, but she didn't want to. Shinji decided to get her mad enough so he could fight with her and cut up her Manga. Lisa kind of snapped when he did that and before anyone could even blink Shinji was lying in a bloody mess on the ground. It took me quite some time to get him patched up."

"She's pretty strong isn't she?" Inoue said with admiration. She wished she could get strong, just like Rukia or Lisa.

"Yeah she is, but you've got nothing to worry about if you don't piss her off. The best way to do that is mess with her Manga. She absolutely loves them. I think the only one who has been able to touch them without getting hurt in the process is Ichigo. I don't know how that boy does it, but I'm glad Lisa has finally found someone she likes. It can be hard for most of the Vaizards to interact with others. We've been cut off from the world for so long."

Inoue was glad Lisa had found a friend as well. She could imagine why people liked Ichigo so much. When she'd first seen Ichigo she was a bit scared of him. He was always scowling and many people were telling stories that he was always fighting with everyone together with Sado, but after Tatsuki had told her that it was Ichigo and his family who had tried so hard to safe her brother when he'd had that accident Inoue tried to get friends with Ichigo. She found out that Ichigo only fought to protect himself and everyone close to him, and she also knew know that he was just scowling to keep everyone away from him. But that didn't work on Inoue anymore. She even thought it was a bit funny, although she would never tell him that, of course.

Inoue smiled at the memories in her head as she saw Ichigo fighting with his Hollow mask on. He wanted to protect everyone, he was even learning how to use his Hollow powers to achieve that goal. Yes, the orange-haired boy really had a good heart. There was even a time before Tatsuki had died that Inoue had thought that they could be more then just friends sometime, but she knew better now. Ichigo needed his friends, he needed her, but not as a girlfriend. That spot was reserved for someone special. Someone who could always be there for him. Inoue had thought it would be Rukia, but now she thought it could be someone else as well. She'd seen him interact with Lisa the night before and today. Lisa could keep him on his toes and she seemed to be the only one who was able to penetrate that thick skull of his. Yes, Lisa seemed to be the perfect match for him, she doubted Ichigo knew that himself, though.

Even though Inoue had wanted to be more than a friend she held no desire for that anymore. Ichigo would still need her, but only as a friend. Yes, that's the way it was going to be. Ichigo and Lisa would get together, he would come to Inoue when he was scared or was hurt badly by Lisa every time they'd had a fight, but eventually they would love each other more and more and then he would propose to her in the most romantic way possible. Inoue's heart swelled with joy as she thought about it. Yes, they would marry each other and have a bunch of kids and she would stay over at their beautiful, big house so she could see their little boy and girl a lot. Inoue was sure the children would be beautiful just like their parents. Ichigo and Lisa would live happily and die of old age before their children and after Inoue, she didn't think she could take such a sad moment.

Oh, damn. Inoue thought. I'm rambling in my mind again, I really have to stop this! She heard voices calling out to her and she snapped out of all the plans she was making for Lisa and Ichigo and their relationship. Inoue focused on her surroundings again and suddenly saw the faces of the two people who'd been on her mind right in front of her face. Inoue nearly jumped out of her skin when she saw them looking at her.

"Oi, Inoue, are you alright?" Ichigo asked with a worried expression on his face. Lisa was standing next to him and also seemed to be a little worried, although she didn't show much of it.

"Yes, yes, yes, I'm alright Ichigo!" Inoue said as she waved her hands in front of her frantically. "Unless…" She suddenly said with a frown. "You can't read my mind can you?"

Ichigo sighed and narrowed his eyes at his friend. "No I can't, but I doubt I would even understand what's going on in that head of yours if I could, Inoue."

"I'm so glad." Inoue said with a big smile. "Um…" she continued as she saw all the other Vaizards were looking at her as well. "What are all those worried faces for?"

"Well," Ichigo started. "You were spacing out for the last thirty minutes so we thought something bad was going on. But it seems we were wrong. I won't ask what you were thinking about that caused you to enter a trance like that, but just don't worry too much about everything, okay?"

Inoue nodded, glad he didn't specifically ask what she was thinking about. "Why are you here already Ichigo? I thought you still had a few hours to go with your training, or did you beat Lisa already?"

"Of course he hasn't! The kid can't even keep up with a turtle, he's slow as hell!" Lisa said before Ichigo could reply. "I'm just letting the poor kid catch his breath for a few minutes before we continue again."

"I don't need to be faster than a turtle to catch you, Lisa! And who said I needed a break? You requested it. C'mon let's start again, I'll get you easily now!" Ichigo said a bit angrily. He hated how Lisa sometimes talked about him.

Maybe it'll take a bit longer than I thought for those two to get together, but I'm sure they're made for each other, Inoue thought as she smiled at Ichigo's reaction of Lisa's obvious attempt to piss him off.

---|---

"Wow, you're amazing with Kidou spells, Rukia!" Yuzu said happily as they finished their training and walked back inside.

"Yes, you're a much better teacher than my dad," Karin said. "He didn't tell us this much about Kidou, he just learned us a few binding spells, but now I think about it he might only have taught us that so he could use Yuzu to get you in the house."

Rukia smiled at Ichigo's sisters. She had been teaching them all the basic things they needed to know about Kidou spells. How you needed to concentrate on the incantation with the higher level spells, but also things they needed to know about their Reiatsu while trying to perform the spells. Rukia really couldn't believe why Isshin hadn't told them such obvious things like that. They might have a pretty high Reiatsu level for humans, but they still were humans and needed all the help they could get while working on things like this. While training them all day long Rukia had discovered a few things about the girls, though. Yuzu had a very good control over her spells and was particularly gifted with the binding spells. Rukia knew that if she worked on it Yuzu could become quite proficient with healing as well. Karin on the other hand was better with destructive spells, Rukia thought it had something to do with character, she knew Karin could be quite violent while Yuzu was usually quite timid.

"It's no problem. Just remember everything I've told you today. Now let's test your skills on your dad and see if the two of you can get him down without my help." Rukia smirked.

Revenge was sweet.

They entered the house through the backdoor and when they walked into the dining room they saw that Isshin was still struggling with the Kidou spell that Rukia had put on him earlier that day. When he noticed them he carefully watched Rukia's smirk, it wouldn't do to anger her even more. When Rukia did nothing he looked at his two daughters. They positioned themselves next to each other and raised their hands to him before they started chanting.

Yuzu used the spell she'd used on Rukia the day before. She didn't even need to use an incantation with this spell. "Bakudou #4 Hainawa!" A rope-like Kidou spell shot out of her hands and bound itself on one of the rods that held Isshin in place. Yuzu pulled as hard as she could but she couldn't even scratch the rod a little. It seemed she had to train a little bit more before she could damage Rukia's favourite spell even a little.

Karin had a bit more luck. She used a Hadou spell, they had more destructive power so breaking Rukia's spell was easier with that. "Hadou #4 Byakurai!" She shouted as she fired a bolt of white lightning from her finger towards the rod that was still being held by Yuzu's spell. Karin managed to bring a few cracks in it, but she couldn't break it.

"Aww, that's too bad." Rukia sighed. "I can bring your dad down, Yuzu, but my Reiatsu is pretty much drained by all the spells I used today. Maybe I shouldn't show you so much spells on just one training next time…"

"That's no problem, Rukia. I'll make dinner and you can take daddy down afterwards." Yuzu replied happily as she started preparing dinner. While she was working Rukia sat down in the dining room and leaned back in her chair as she closely watched Isshin with a satisfied smile on her face.

"Oh, I almost forgot to tell you, but congratulations on your promotion to Vice-Captain, Rukia. Ukitake is a good Captain, I always liked him when I was still in Soul Society." Isshin said sincerely.

Rukia almost fell out of her chair when she heard that. This was the first time she'd seen Isshin get a little serious. "What?! How do you know about my promotion, and how do you know Ukitake?"

"Urahara told me about your promotion, and I've known Ukitake a lot longer than you. The two of us went to the Academy together. He was a good man, he always was there for his friends even though he had a weak body. I really appreciated that."

"You went to Soul Society as well? I didn't know that. Does Ichigo know?" Rukia asked amazed.

"Yeah I've been there alright. That was very long ago, though. I haven't told Ichigo everything yet, but he does know I'm a Captain-class Shinigami."

"You're a what?!" Rukia roared.

"Not so hard! I don't want Yuzu and Karin to know everything about my old life yet!"

Rukia smiled a little at the mysterious man. He really was a lot more then he let on. So almost everything he did to her was just an act? But if he really was a Captain-class Shinigami why hadn't he broken the Kidou spell yet? It shouldn't be hard at all for someone like him even though he was in a Gigai. "So.. you really are preparing your daughters for the war, you didn't just do it to capture me? And just out of curiosity, how strong are you as Captain?" Rukia asked finally.

"Yes, of course. I don't think Ichigo would survive it if his daughters got killed in the war. I certainly won't. I also learned Yuzu those things to get to you, but I knew you'd come here sooner or later, anyway. No one would survive it for longer than a week at Inoue's place. And to answer your last question, I think you could compare me to Ukitake or Kyouraku."

Rukia's eyes widened at that, he was pretty strong indeed. "You could just have told me you were a Shinigami you know," Rukia continued. "I mean not just now, but also the last time I was here and gave Ichigo his powers."

"I could've done that, yes. But I wasn't sure if I could trust you, yet. I don't think that much of Soul Society anymore, not since I've been in the Real World and my doubts had started when I heard about the people who were sentenced to death because they somehow gained Hollow powers. I didn't want Soul Society to know I was still alive so I thought it was for the best to keep my mouth shut."

Rukia looked at his troubled face. She didn't know what had happened to him in Soul Society, but she figured he hadn't come here to the Real World just to have fun. "Yes, I think I would've done the same thing if I were you, but don't think just because I know who you are I'm going to let you down sooner. I still need my revenge!" Rukia said as she heard Yuzu and Karin come in.

"What?! Why not? I'm hungry as well!" Isshin yelled completely abandoning his serious speech.

Rukia smiled inwardly. It seemed not everything about his behaviour had been an act. "You can be such a hot-headed man, Isshin." Rukia said. "Just watch out it won't get worse with all the blood that is streaming to your head right now."

Isshin fell silent and merely mumbled something under his breath that distinctly sounded like: "Damn those Kuchiki's."

---|---

"Ichigo, could you bring me my Manga's please? I've been so caught up with training the last few days that I haven't had time to read them yet." Lisa asked as she was sitting in a big comfortable chair in the basement.

Ichigo narrowed his eyes as he glared at her. "Sure, Lisa. I'd love to." He said sarcastically and he got up from the ground next to her and walked away to get her Manga's.

"Now, now, Ichigo. Did you already forgot how I asked you to call me this week?" She said smirking.

"No I didn't, please forgive me… Milady." Ichigo said as he dropped a stack of Manga's on her lap and sat down on the floor besides her, obediently waiting for her next command. Ichigo knew he shouldn't have accepted the bet, he knew it could only end this way. But somehow he thought that he could beat her, that he would be faster. How very wrong he was. And now he had to pay for his mistake for the next seven days. It had been a close call, though. Just before the five hours ended he had almost caught her for the seventh time. With his mask on he caught up with her more easily, but whenever he did so she simply used Sonido and got away from him.

"Hmm… I'm thirsty, Ichigo. Bring me something to drink please." Lisa looked at Inoue who was sitting nearby. "Oh and while you're at it, please get something for Inoue as well." Lisa said. This was definitely the best bet she'd ever made. She got control over Ichigo for the next week. She could get everything she wanted now. Lisa would make sure Ichigo would never forget this week… ever.

"Of course, Milady, what would you and Inoue like to drink, Milady?" Ichigo answered, knowing what she wanted to hear.

"A pot of tea will do." She told Ichigo. He nodded and walked away to prepare the tea.

Two minutes later Ichigo returned with a pot of tea and two mugs for Lisa and Inoue. He put the mugs down and filled them with the steaming tea. Lisa at least had the decency to thank him, and sipped her tea while she started talking with Inoue about her training with Hachigen. Inoue told her everything he had found out about her power and how she could improve it in the coming weeks. Ichigo was listening intently, happy he could sit still for once, but Lisa noticed this and quickly called for him again.

Ichigo flinched before standing up. "Yes, Milady. What would you like me to do?"

"Actually my feet are quite sore, could you give me a foot rub please? If you do well enough I might even allow you to massage my shoulders."

Well this isn't too bad, Ichigo thought. At least I don't have to bring a big chair down again. Now I can just sit still while obeying her at the same time. Ichigo nodded at her, pulled off her shoes and socks and started the foot rub. He smiled a little at how small her feet were, he figured his feet were almost twice as big.

Lisa gave a big, satisfied sigh and closed her eyes as she leaned back in her chair, enjoying the foot rub.

Inoue tried to stifle her laughter as she saw Lisa commanding Ichigo. Even though he hid it behind his scowl Inoue was sure he enjoyed it a little as well. Not that he liked to be commanded, but some of the things he had to do weren't that bad and he was having a little break from training now as well. And apart form that Inoue was certain he loved to give Lisa a foot rub.

As Ichigo was rubbing Lisa's feet the Vaizards started leaving the basement and went upstairs to get ready for bed, they'd enjoyed Ichigo's fate long enough now and were getting tired. Luckily Ichigo was also ordered to do the dishes that evening so none of the other Vaizards had to worry themselves about that today. When the last of the Vaizards disappeared from view and only Inoue, Lisa and Ichigo were left Lisa told Ichigo to stop. He sighed happily and hoped Lisa wanted to go to bed now as well. But sadly enough he was wrong.

Lisa sat down on the floor next to her big comfy chair and rested her head on top of her arms who she'd laid over the side of the chair. When Ichigo looked at her with a confused expression she beckoned for him to come closer and told him to give her a shoulder massage. She promised him he was almost done for the day now. Ichigo had sighed, but after another "Yes, Milady." He'd started the massage. Lisa was happy to notice he was quite good with giving massages and she let him massage her sore muscles for a good fifteen minutes before telling him it was time to go to bed.

"Not so fast, Ichigo." Lisa said, stopping Ichigo who'd tried to run up the stairs right away.

"Milady?"

"I didn't say you were done yet. I want you to carry me upstairs again, the last time you did it you could only use one arm, so I didn't really enjoy it. I want you to try your very best this time, and bring me to my room after we accompany Inoue to hers.

"Yes, Milady." Ichigo walked over to her and scooped Lisa up in his arms and walked up the stairs together with Inoue. After they'd brought Inoue to their room and almost reached Lisa's Ichigo finally gathered the courage to speak.

"I have to do all these things because of our little incident this morning, right… Milady" Ichigo whispered.

"No, this has nothing to do with that, I would've done this whether you ran into me or not. But I have to admit it feels nice to let you do these things while still knowing you owe me a favor after all of this." Lisa said as they entered her room and Ichigo laid her on her bed. He just wanted to tuck her in when she stopped him.

"Aren't we forgetting something again, Ichigo?" She asked.

Ichigo gulped. "No way I'm going to do that!"

"Oh yes you are." Lisa replied. "You've got to do everything I say, Ichigo. That was the deal."

Ichigo sighed. "Alright, alright. I'll do it" He said before quickly pulling off her pants and shirt and covered her with the blankets. "Happy now?"

"Almost, I just need a goodnight kiss and then you may leave." When Ichigo didn't move she impatiently offered her cheek to him. "I'm waiting, Ichigo."

Ichigo knew there was no point in arguing so he gave her a quick kiss and stalked out of the room as he mumbled a good night to her.

"Good night, Ichigo." She said with an evil grin before the door closed. He was such an easy boy to tease, but was it really only teasing? Lisa wondered. Wasn't she starting to like the innocent boy a little? Lisa decided not to ponder over it and shrugged it off as she turned off the light and fell asleep quickly afterwards.

---|---

All the people gathered around the big table grew silent as he entered the dimly lit room. When he sat down everyone bowed their heads.

"Aizen-sama," they said in unison.

"My Espada," he said with a nod. "I've got a new mission for you. My scouts in Karakura Town have informed me that the town has received some help from Soul Society. They believe it can lead to some problems in the future."

"A few Shinigami can't do anything to disrupt your plans, Aizen-sama!" Luppi interrupted. "There's no need to waste your time on them!" Aizen merely gave him a cold look, and Luppi knowing he had crossed the line quickly apologised and fell silent, hoping he wouldn't be punished like the preivious Sextra Espada, Grimmjow.

"As I said," Aizen continued as if nothing had happened. "Karakura Town has received help from Soul Society. They probably won't be a danger to my plans, but I think it would be wise to check that out ourselves." Aizen sipped his tea before addressing his Espada's again. "Ulquiorra, Luppi, Yammy. I want the three of you to go to Karakura Town and check how strong those Shinigami's are. I don't want you to take unnecessary risks if they are too strong, it's possible there are Captains among those Shinigami's. I think you should take a few of the lower Arrancar with you as well. They will do nicely for the weaker Shinigami's."

The Espada nodded and left the room, eager to carry out their mission in Karakura Town.

"Ulquiorra, wait a moment please," Aizen said. "I got a special assignment for you. I want you to check out that Ichigo boy. I want to see how strong he has gotten, and if he has started using Grimmjow's 'gift' already. I want to know if he can control it and if it damages his body while using it."

"Of course, Aizen-sama." Ulquiorra said in his impassive voice and bowed before leaving the room. On his way to Karakura Town, on his way to Kurosaki Ichigo.

---|---|---

_And here's chapter eleven!_

_The real fun starts next chapter! I hope everyone enjoyed this chapter. I'd like to know what you think of the development with Lisa and Ichigo, and I'm also curious to know what you think about Inoue's mind-rambling in this chapter. I hope it came out well enough._

_R&R! _


	12. Chapter 12: Under attack I

**Disclaimer: ** I do not own Bleach or any of the characters.

_First of all I want to thank everyone who has reviewed my Fanfic so far! I've reached my first 100 reviews with my previous chapter. I'm really glad so many people like my story so far, and I hope everyone keeps following it till the end!_

_I'm also glad that most liked the Inoue scene from my previous chapter. I certainly loved to write it!_

_**DarkJason: **__Yeah, romance is finally starting to bubble a bit between Ichigo and Lisa, I know I'm not developing their relationship very quickly, but like I said a while back, I don't want to rush it. At least, not yet. Also, I'm glad you like Yuzu and Karin having Kidou powers in my story. Personally I haven't read a fic yet where they have more than average powers, so I hope everyone like what I'm doing with them in this story. I can also pretty much guarantee there isn't going to be a Ichigo/Grimmjow fight with this attack on Karakura Town. Grimmjow has been demoted and Aizen hasn't asked him to join the rest of the Espada in this attack. And you're also quite right about Inoue, Even though she really likes Ichigo she wants to see him happy as I've shown with the mind rambling. _

_**ThreeLetterSyndrom: **__You registered just so you could review my story? Joy, joy! It makes me happy to hear… err read this! And I do agree with you that most of the other fanfics rush a lot with the development between the pairings. In my opinion it's better to take it slowly. Also, now you mention it, you're quite right about the Shinigami. I hadn't really noticed it until now, so thank you for telling me! _

**Chapter 12: Under attack**** I**

Luppi smiled as he followed Ulquiorra through the dimly lit halls of Las Noches in a good mood. They were finally getting some real action again. The orders Aizen had just given them were easy to follow. This was actually the first time Luppi really liked the orders he had been given from the man. They had to go to Karakura Town and search for powerful Shinigami who were protecting the town, and kill them if they had the chance. Luppi was sent on this mission together with Yammy and Ulquiorra, but Aizen had also told them that they had to bring a few other Arrancar with them who could be used to defeat the weaker opponents.

At first Luppi didn't want anyone else to join them, but when he noticed a small group of Arrancar huddled in a corner he had gotten a brilliant idea, and changed his mind. They were Grimmjow's Fracción, but since he was demoted he wasn't allowed to have a Fracción anymore. Much to the surprise of Yammy and Ulquiorra Luppi had walked up to them and told them they had to join him and two other Espada's to Karakura Town. They couldn't reject an offer made by an Espada so they had agreed to come with them.

"Why can't we just make a Garganta here, Ulquiorra?" Yammy asked, although it sounded more like a whine.

"Because we aren't allowed to use it within the dome of Las Noches, Yammy. You should know that by now." Ulquiorra said with his impassive voice as they finally reached the doors leading outside.

Yammy merely scowled at Ulquiorra, but decided to keep it at that. He thought that Ulquiorra lived by the rules set up by Aizen a bit too much.

I ripping noise could be heard when they walked outside of Las Noches, and entered the eternal night that eclipsed Hueco Mundo. Ulquiorra pulled his finger back and entered the Garganta he had just created for them.

Luppi grinned wickedly as he walked inside the Garganta behind Ulquiorra and glanced over his left shoulder to see Grimmjow's former Fraccíon walking behind Yammy. This was the best way to humiliate the previous Sextra Espada even more, he thought. That man had been furious at Luppi when he took over his spot as Sextra Espada. Grimmjow wanted his spot back among the Espada's, but with only one arm there wasn't much he could do. If his arm was still intact he could've been useful to Aizen, but it had been completely destroyed and was beyond repair. There was no way he could get back at the top, of that Luppi was sure.

After a few minutes they exited the Garganta, and entered the chilly morning that lay over Karakura Town. It was still very early in the morning, and almost all the streets were empty. Occasionally they saw a few cars, or some civilians on the streets underneath them, but they weren't interested in the normal humans living in this area. They wanted the Shinigami who protected them. Of course they could just start killing off all the normal humans until some powerful opponents appeared, but Ulquiorra told them not to harm anyone else except the reinforcements from Soul Society. Even if Ulquiorra hadn't told them to leave the humans alone Luppi wouldn't have touched them, anyway. He hated fighting people who didn't show any sign of resistance, and were dead before you could even blink with your eyes.

When Ulquiorra silently gazed at the people standing besides him for a few moments, everyone closed their eyes, and used their spirit pulse to search for people with higher than average Reiatsu patterns. It didn't take very long before they found quite a few of them. After a while they all opened their eyes again. Yammy and Luppi were eager to leave and start the fun, but they could refrain themselves from doing that, and waited for Ulquiorra to tell them they could go.

"You all know what to do," Ulquiorra spoke up, "don't take unnecessary risks and get yourself killed, it might be possible that there are several Captain level Shinigami here."

"Of course not, Ulquiorra," Yammy said, "we won't die so easily. Now let's go and kick their asses back to Soul Society, and after that I want to kill that orange-haired kid's father. He will pay for cutting off my arm."

"Don't get too full of yourself, Yammy," Luppi said smirking as he looked at the big Espada behind him. Just as Grimmjow he too had had his arm cut off. He'd had more luck than Grimmjow, though. His arm wasn't destroyed beyond repair like Grimmjow's arm had been. After his battle here in Karakura Town Ulquiorra had grabbed his arm and took it back with them to Hueco Mundo. It took the medics a few days to successfully reattach his arm, but Yammy had both of his arms again, and was ready to kill.

"You always get in trouble when you get like this, Yammy, I wouldn't be surprised if that man cuts off your arm, again!" Luppi continued grinning.

"Stop your bickering," Ulquiorra interrupted his face still not showing any sign of emotion. "We're here to kill the protectors of this town, not too bicker amongst ourselves."

Yammy gave a harsh look at Luppi, but wisely kept his tongue, and waited.

"Good," Ulquiorra said as he glanced at Yammy. "Now, everyone pick your targets and get this over with. And remember: don't take them lightly. You are of no use to Aizen-sama if you decide to die here."

The Espada's looked at each other for a moment before they all sped off, and went looking for the reinforcements without even looking back at the Arrancar behind them.

"I know you don't like these Espada, either," Shawlong said at the other Arrancars who still hadn't moved, "but we have no choice but to obey them. Now let's go and join the fight." Shawlong continued before he too went off to look for the Shinigami.

---|---

Rukia was deep in thought just like she had been all night as she made her daily patrol across Karakura Town. She'd barely even caught a few hours of sleep the previous night because she had been pondering about everything Isshin had told her that day. Isshin wasn't just the idiotic father of Ichigo anymore, he was a powerful Shinigami who went to the Real World in order to hide from Soul Society. The man had said he had known her Captain, Ukitake Jushiro. They'd gone to the Academy together which must mean that Isshin was very old just like Ukitake and Kyouraku. Even though Rukia hadn't asked Isshin about it she was very curious as to what Isshin had done exactly. It was obvious he had been in Karakura Town before Urahara Kisuke, but how much earlier Rukia didn't know.

Rukia kicked a small stone across the street as she scowled deeply. The longer she was in Karakura Town the more she started to hate Soul Society, or at least some of the important people in it. Urahara had been exiled because he tried to help people, and the people he had tried to help were ordered to be executed. All of this happened because the Captain-Commander had done nothing whatsoever to help the people who needed it. Rukia knew he also had to obey the orders from Central 46, but she still thought that he should've tried to do something about it. It's quite harsh to order the death of eight Captain and Vice-captains without even trying to help them or find out if there's any way to reverse the things that were done to them. Yamamoto and Central 46 were the reason the Vaizards had to live this kind of life and hated everyone associated with the Shinigami. Rukia was glad that she was getting somewhat familiar with Lisa, though, and she hoped she could build a friendship with her and a few other Vaizards as well.

Rukia was also mad at Yamamoto because he had done nothing when she was sentenced to death. When she came to Soul Society willingly to face her punishment she had known it would be bad, but she was certain her crimes weren't worth the death penalty. She was treated like a traitor.

Besides Kyouraku and Ukitake there was no one who voiced their complaints in Soul Society. She didn't understand this at all, everything about her execution had been extremely fishy, and yet no one but two Captains had voiced their doubts. In the end Renji and her nii-sama had come to help her as well, but that was not before they'd received a good beating from Ichigo. Rukia smiled as she thought about the orange-haired boy. She'd only known him for two months and yet he risked his life, and did things that her friends and family she had known for over one hundred years wouldn't have dared to do. He risked his life and charged straight into the heart of Soul Society, only so he could save her together with his friends. Rukia had thought her place wasn't in the Real World, she'd thought she belonged in Soul Society, that was one of the reasons she left Ichigo and tried to get to Soul Society before they could catch him, but now she wasn't so sure where her place really was. She actually started to think that she belonged to the Real World more and more every day.

Just as Rukia wanted to go back to the Kurosaki's she suddenly noticed a tense pressure in the air, and a few unfamiliar Reiatsu patterns that appeared out of nowhere. Judging from the strength they emitted Rukia figured they must be Arrancar. Damn it, why did they have to show up now? And there are quite a few of them, does this mean Aizen is already making his move? Rukia reached for her sword, but suddenly two strong arms grabbed her from behind and started dragging her away. She was too surprised to show much resistance, she hadn't even felt his Reiatsu, in fact she still couldn't feel it. How was he able to completely hide it?

The man quickly brought her to the Urahara Shop without saying anything to her. Just when they entered the candy shop Rukia punched him in his face, and untangled herself from him. Rukia immediately unsheathed her sword and pressed it against his throat as she held him against the floor. When he struggled and tried to fight her the hood of his mantle fell backwards. Rukia's eyes widened as she looked at the man who had tried to capture her when she wanted to go back to Isshin and warn him about the Arrancar.

"Renji?!" Rukia gasped and pulled her sword away from his throat. "Why the hell did you drag me off like that? And how did you get here in the first place?" She roared as she gave him a hateful glare.

"Hello to you too, Rukia," Renji said smiling a little. When he saw her glare his smile faltered, though.

"Well?" Rukia continued. "I haven't got much time, There are Arrancars running loose at the moment and I need to help!"

"Your brother send me here," Renji said. "And, yes, I'm aware there are Arrancars in Karakura Town, even Ichigo could feel them right now."

"My nii-sama? Why did he sent you here?" Rukia asked hoping she wouldn't be brought back to Soul Society. It was possible her brother wanted to drag her away from danger again, but Rukia hoped he would just let her do what she believed in for once. It was bad enough that he had stopped her promotion for so long.

"He wanted me to protect you and take you to safety if Aizen decided to attack Karakura Town before the winter." Renji said. "I've been following you around with the help of this cloak that Mayuri made for me."

"Nii-sama asked you to protect me, and you just followed his order without even questioning it? I'm a Vice-captain now too, Renji. Why doesn't anyone believe in my strength? I'm sick of everyone who tries to keep me safe behind my back. I don't need that protection! I'd rather be dead than all alone in Soul Society waiting for everyone to return from battle," Rukia half screamed as she shook Renji's shoulders angrily. "Why don't you believe in me Renji? I thought we were friends!" Rukia gave him one more fleeting look and ran away, leaving a stunned Renji at the candy shop.

When Renji got up and wanted to chase after her Urahara held him back. "I told you you should've told Rukia from the beginning you received this mission from her brother, Renji," he said. "I thought you knew that Rukia won't let anyone tell her what to do."

"But I just wanted to keep her safe, she is no match for those Arrancar…" Renji said with a defeated look on his face.

"If she isn't then you can't even scratch them, Renji. I don't think I have to remind you that she could've killed you instantly just know. You were lying on the ground and she had her blade pressed against your throat." Urahara released his grip on Renji. "Rukia has grown stronger, Renji. You should quit trying to follow Byakuya's orders and fight together with your friend, not against her."

When Renji didn't say anything Urahara continued. "Renji, you have to believe in your friends, you can't hope to stay friends if you don't even trust each other."

Renji looked at his feet before he finally said something. "I think you're right, Urahara. I've been foolish. I should've known no one can stop her once she gets her mind on something."

"That's right, Renji!" Urahara suddenly said with his jovial voice as he waved with his fan. "Now get out of my sight and help Rukia and the others with the fight against the Arrancar. They seem pretty strong, so be careful."

Renji nodded and quickly left the shop.

"Yoruichi!" Urahara called out when Renji was gone.

"What is it, Urahara?" A rather sleepy voice called out from a nearby room.

"I need your assistance again. I want you to go to Soul Society, and make sure our fellow Shinigami get access to their full powers. I'm afraid they're going to need it." Urahara said as he started rummaging through his research materials.

"And how do you suppose I can convince them to do it without the procedure?" She asked, suddenly wide-awake.

"Just tell Mayuri he gets the information I received on my field research if he releases their limits at once. He won't be able to resist an offer like that."

Yoruichi smirked as she walked into the room. "So that's why you didn't let me go to Soul Society right away and give him the information?"

Urahara merely smiled at her knowingly as he led her to the Senkaimon in the basement.

---|---

While Yoruichi made her way to Soul Society through the Senkaimon Rukia was running through the streets of Karakura Town together with Isshin. After she had furiously left Renji at the Urahara Shop she had gone directly to Isshin. He had noticed the Arrancars as well and had been preparing everything in the Kurosaki Clinic together with Karin and Yuzu. It was inevitable that there going to be a lot of fighting and bloodshed. When Rukia arrived at the Kurosaki Clinic she'd ordered her artificial soul, Chappy, to get Ichigo and tell him everything that was going on. Rukia knew he was behind a barrier that hid his Reiatsu, but they needed him in this fight, and she was sure he wanted to join it as well.

Isshin had ordered Yuzu and Karin to continue the preparations when he saw an agitated Rukia, and transformed into a Shinigami before he followed her out to join the fighting. Isshin wore a standard Shinigami outfit, and he also had a Captain's haori draped over his left shoulder. If Rukia had any doubts about Isshin being a Captain-class Shinigami they were all gone now. She couldn't see from what division he was, but she really didn't have the time to check that out right now.

"Rukia, you know right?" Isshin asked after a few minutes.

"Yes, I feel it too. One Arrancar is following us, he's one of the weaker though. I'll fight him so you can continue. I'll join you when I'm finished here," Rukia said as she stopped and waited for the Arrancar to come.

Isshin stopped for a moment and smiled at her. "Give him a good beating, Rukia, but don't take too long or you will miss out on all the action with me." He said and he gave her a wink before vanishing with a flash of Shunpo.

Rukia couldn't help but grin as he disappeared from sight. Finally someone who believed in her strength, and didn't try to shield her from danger. Rukia was glad she lived with the Kurosaki's now, the whole family accepted and acknowledged her for who she was. She'd been dreaming for something like this for ages. Rukia didn't have much time too dwell on that at the moment, though. She turned around and waited for a few moments before a rather odd-looking Arrancar appeared in front of her. The remains of his Hollow mask consisted of a bulky helmet which greatly resembled a hammerhead shark. The right side of his mask was covered in bandages, which obscured his right eye from view, and he had weird square-like teeth which looked a bit like a shark as well. Rukia didn't think he was very strong, but she decided not to underestimate him. She knew bad things could happen if you did that.

Rukia decided to waste no time and immediately started the fight. "Dance, Sode no Shirayuki," she chanted before her Zanpakuto turned completely white, and a ribbon extended from the hilt. She grabbed her sword with both hands and charged forward. Rukia was so occupied with the Arrancar in front of her that she didn't even notice the other Arrancar until he stopped her blade.

"Now, now, Di Roy. You should pay more attention when you jump into a fight next time, if I wasn't here on time you would've been hurt pretty badly," an Arrancar with long, blonde hair and a helmet-like mask on top of his head said.

"I don't need your help, Granz" The Arrancar who had just been introduced as Di Roy said with a slight lisp which earned him a glare from the blonde next to him.

Rukia was quite certain she was able to handle both of them separately, but she didn't think she could fight them together. The only thing she could do was finish off the shark-like Arrancar before the fight dragged out too long. Rukia wanted to start fighting again, but she stopped when Renji suddenly appeared next to her.

He began talking before she could even yell at him. "I know you hate me right now, Rukia. But I wouldn't let anyone fight off two Arrancars on their own."

"So you're actually going to let me fight for once?" Rukia said much calmer than she felt.

Renji looked at her with a sad expression on his face. "Yes, I know I should've acted more like a friend. I know I should've ignored Byakuya's orders and let you do the things you want to do, but I was just worried about you. I'm sorry, Rukia. I know you are quite capable to protect yourself."

Rukia's face softened for a moment after hearing his apology, but she glared at him again before continuing. "Don't think I'll just forgive you like that, Renji. I still don't like what you did, but I think it's better that we fight with each other now instead of against each other."

Renji smiled at her. "I can live with that, Rukia." He said happily, "Now, let's show these Arrancar what we're made off."

---|---

"Mutsumoto, contact Soul Society immediately, and ask permission to release our limiters. These guys are really strong, I don't know if we can beat them with our current strength." Toushiro said to Matsumoto as the two of them flashed from rooftop to rooftop making their way to the Arrancar who had just appeared in Karakura Town. "I hope we'll be able to release before things get too dangerous."

Matsumoto nodded at her Captain, and reached out to her cell phone so she could call for help. Just when she brought it to her ear it was knocked out of her hands and it fell on the ground, though. When Matsumoto looked up to see who had ripped the cell phone out of her hands she saw three Arrancar standing in front of her. Knowing there was no way the two of them could beat three Arrancars without releasing their limiters Matsumoto quickly sped towards the ground and reached out for the cell phone. Before she could reach it she heard a static sound and one of the Arrancar appeared in front of her and crushed the small phone to dust under his feet.

"Not so fast, woman," an Arrancar said as he hunched forward with his hands crossed behind his back. He was very big and fat, and he had a large round face with small eyes. He had dark-brown hair framing his wide face, it was cut into a bowl haircut. The right side of his face was completely covered with his skull-like Hollow mask, and he wore what Matsumoto thought was the standard Arrancar outfit.

"Who are you?" Matsumoto roared as she grabbed the hilt of her Zanpakuto and held her sword in front of her.

The Arrancar ignored her and used Sonido to disappear from view and an instant later he reappeared behind her as he slashed his sword down. Matsumoto who hadn't expected him to be so fast quickly rolled to the side. She managed to dodge his attack, but before she could regain her footing he was gone again with that weird static sound, and he started attacking her at high speed.

Meanwhile Toushiro was fighting for his life against two Arrancars at once. Even though he was a Captain two of these guys at once was very hard. Especially if he couldn't release. Toushiro's cell phone was in his pocket, but he couldn't reach it while fighting off the Arrancar, he hoped Mayuri knew they were attacked so he could ask permission for them. It was a shame it took so long to get authorisation from Soul Society to release the limiters.

"Oi, need a hand, Toushiro?" Ikkaku shouted.

Toushiro looked up and saw Ikkaku dragging off the largest opponent. It was obvious that Ikkaku wanted to have a good fight. Ikkaku didn't have a limiter to worry about so letting him fight the strongest one is the best thing we can do at the moment, Toushiro thought.

"It's Captain Hitsugaya for you, Ikkaku." Toushiro said, but Ikkaku ignored him and he grabbed his sword in his right hand and his scabbard in his left. The Arrancar Ikkaku had dragged off wanted to go back to Toushiro, but when he noticed his new opponent was pretty strong as well he decided to stay and kill him first. It was annoying to fight with a few against one, anyway.

Yumichika arrived at the scene a few moments later. He saw that all the Arrancar were already busy fighting. "This is ugly," he muttered. "They finally decide to attack us, but there aren't even enough Arrancar for all of us." Yumichika sat down on a nearby rooftop and decided to watch the three battles in front of him. "I'll just sit and wait, if I'm lucky I'll be able to switch with someone later on, I hope I can get away from the rest, though. If they are indeed very strong I might need my Shikai's true form."

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Ichigo just finished a quick warm-up training when he saw Rukia running towards him. How the hell did she break through the barrier Hachigen set up? As far as Ichigo knew no one had let her in, and Rukia also wasn't supposed to come here until the match with him and Hiyori in two weeks time. Ichigo decided to find out what this was all about and walked to a very stressed out Rukia.

"Oi, what's wrong, Rukia? I thought you wouldn't come here again unless it was really necessary." Ichigo said as he reached Rukia who was being restrained by Kensei and Love. Or wasn't it Rukia? The girl looked very odd and the serious look Rukia mostly had on her face was completely gone, and it looked like she was crying.

As soon as Rukia saw him she began trashing like mad and broke free from the Vaizards holding her in place. "Ichigo!" She screamed as she leapt towards him and knocked him over. "You have to help! Rukia's in Twouble! There are Awwancar in town. Come and help her!" Rukia held on to him for dear life and sobbed on his shoulder.

Ichigo looked at her for a while until a sudden realisation came to him. "Chappy? Is that you?" He asked. "What're you doing here in Rukia's body? Did something happen?"

"Yes! There's twouble, there are Awwancar in town, you have to help!"

"Arrancar?" Ichigo's eyes grew wide.

"That's wight!"

Ichigo immediately got up, grabbed his sword and made his way too the exit together with Inoue who had overheard everything, but the two of them were restrained by Kensei and Love before they reached the stairs. "Oi! Let me go, I have to help Rukia fight the Arrancar!" Ichigo shouted.

"Stop it, Ichigo," Kensei said as he held a struggling Ichigo down. "Don't you have those people from Soul Society to do that?"

Shinji walked up to Ichigo and Kensei with a bored expression on his face. "Let them go, Kensei, Love."

"What? They'll get themselves killed!"

"Their friends will help them out. It's okay, let them go." Shinji replied.

Kensei scowled at him, but he and Love let Ichigo and Inoue go, anyway. The two of them sped away with Chappy running behind them hysterically. They rushed up the stairs together and disappeared from view.

"What was all that about?" Lisa said as she joined the other Vaizards. "One moment I was sitting in the back getting ready for Ichigo's training, and then he suddenly gets attacked by Rukia and they leave together with Inoue? Where did they go?" She roared furiously.

"That girl wasn't Rukia, it was an artificial soul named Chappy," Shinji said. "And I let the three of them go because there are some Arrancar in Karakura Town at the moment. He wants to protect his friends, so I let him go."

"You let him go to fight some Arrancars? Are you mad? If there are some Espada with their enemies he's dead meat, he isn't ready to fight the Espada yet!" Lisa said as she released her anger on Shinji, and grabbed him by his throat before slamming him into a nearby rock. "Why didn't you at least send one of us with him?" She asked her face dangerously close to Shinji's.

Shinji fearfully looked in Lisa's eyes. "W-why should we go with him? He's fightin' the Arrancar together with the Shinigami from Soul Society. I have no intention ta fight together with the likes of them!" He said with more confidence than he felt.

"Just because there are Shinigami out there doesn't mean we should let Ichigo die. And that Rukia girl really is a good Shinigami just like Urahara and Yoruichi, not all of them are bad, Shinji! There are also Shinigami who accept us." Lisa said. "I'm going after them!"

"Oi, Lisa. Are you seriously goin' to help those worthless Shinigami?" Shinji said as Lisa grabbed her sword. The moment those words had left his mouth he knew he was in trouble.

Big trouble.

Lisa growled and turned around. "They're protecting their friends and family, I don't think you can call them worthless if they do that! We may have been abandoned all those years ago, but not everyone is like Yamamoto and Central 46!" She roared as she punched him in his face. "You are worthless!" Lisa unsheathed her sword and attempted to hurt the man so badly that he couldn't move for the next three weeks, but she was stopped by a barrier Hachigen put up between them.

"That's enough, Lisa," he said.

Lisa scowled at him and ran towards the stairs and made her way towards Ichigo and the Arrancar without looking back at Shinji even once.

---|---

Outside the barrier Ichigo could feel the Arrancar fighting everywhere. He also noticed Rukia's Reiatsu and he was glad to notice that she wasn't fighting yet, but he also felt three other people close to her. One he recognised as Renji's, but he didn't recognise the other two, he figured those must be from the enemy. Ichigo looked to his side and noticed that Inoue wasn't next to him anymore. He stopped and after a moment he spotted the girl behind him. She was running as fast as she could, but she just couldn't keep up with Ichigo's speed.

"Inoue," Ichigo said once she reached him again. "I know you really want to fight as well, but I don't think you've received enough training from Hachigen yet to be able to fight these Arrancar at the moment." Ichigo looked at her sad face for a moment. "Could you please help all the wounded instead of fighting this time? Your healing ability is amazing and I think we need your powers for that since there are no Shinigami with healing abilities in the Real World right now. Please try to stay safe until you feel someone needs your help."

Inoue nodded. "I understand, Ichigo, I'll help as much people as I can."

Ichigo smiled his thanks to her before continuing. "Since you're not a Shinigami you can't use Shunpo, but I really need to help everyone out now. Is it okay if I leave you here and help Rukia out?"

"I don't mind, Ichigo. Go now, and promise you'll be careful! My abilities can heal almost everything, but I doubt I can bring you back to life," she said with a sad smile.

"I'm always careful, Inoue.," Ichigo said, trying to lighten the mood.

"No you're not." Inoue said as she gave him a quick hug. "Now go to Rukia and help her. I'll come as quickly as possible."

"Thank you, Inoue," Ichigo said and with a flash of Shunpo he was gone.

Ichigo was glad for the training he received from Lisa. He was a lot faster than a few weeks ago. He flashed past the buildings with an amazing speed, and he wasn't even wearing his Hollow mask yet. Ichigo squinted his eyes against the strong wind, and looked to his right arm. Chappy was clinging on it for dear life. He hadn't even noticed her until now. She ought to be a little more careful with Rukia's Gigai Ichigo thought grimly, but since he was almost at Rukia already he decided not to say anything.

When Ichigo reached her he saw that Renji was already fighting with an Arrancar with long blonde hair which looked a bit like Byakuya's. He searched for Rukia, and quickly spotted her a bit further away. It looked like she was ready to fight. She had a serious expression on her face and she had a beautiful white sword in her hands. Ichigo figured that must be her Shikai. Rukia raised her sword in the air and looked at the Arrancar in front of her.

Just in time, Ichigo thought.

Chappy leapt off his arm and hugged Rukia from behind. "I'm so happy you're not hurt, Rukia!" She screamed. "I was so scared!"

"Oi, Rukia. Good to see you're all right. Let me take care of that Arrancar, it has been ages since I had a real fight." Ichigo said as he stepped in front of her

"No way, Ichigo! He's mine." Rukia said as she released herself from Chappy who was still hugging her back. "Chappy! Grab Ichigo and make sure he doesn't interfere with this fight. Don't let him even make a sound while I'm busy."

Before Ichigo could even unsheathe his sword Chappy tackled him to the floor and held him there as she sat on his back holding his two arms in an awkward position. "Oi, Chappy! Get off me, that shark is mine. Why did you get me if you're not going to let me fight anyway?" He screamed.

"Shut up! If you don't shut up, I'll fworce you to be quiet!" Chappy said as she bend his arms.

"Ow, ow, ow! You're breaking my arm, you're breaking my arm! I'm gonna kick your ass " Ichigo cried out.

"I don't want to have my butt kicked, so I'd better kill you first!" Chappy replied as she gripped his arm tighter.

"Wait, wait, wait! Aren't you just supposed to just hold me down?" Ichigo asked fearfully.

"Woohoo! And your arm goes… bweak!" Chappy replied happily as she bent one of his arms completely to the side which caused Ichigo to cry out in pain even more.

Rukia sighed at the two and got ready for battle again. Di Roy was tired of waiting and charged forward to Rukia. She raised her sword just in time to block his attack. She was surprised to see he had attacked with his bare hand. It looked like it was made of steel, her sword didn't even cut him as she blocked him. Di Roy kept attacking Rukia, but she had no trouble to keep blocking him, he was pretty fast, but his attacks weren't very powerful at all.

Rukia grabbed him by his arm as he tried to impale her in her chest and flung him to the side. Next she jumped up in front of him and brought her sword down with two hands. he blocked it with his arms, but it was quite obvious he was having a lot of trouble with it. He managed to push Rukia back in the end, but he was panting heavily and he gave her a foul look.

"I hope your friends are stronger than you, Di Roy. You're not really giving me a hard time," Rukia said as she looked at the rather weak Arrancar in front of her. Di Roy merely growled in response and tried to control his breathing. Rukia didn't wait for him to catch his breath and went straight into the offensive. "Some no mai, Tsukishiro!" She cried out and a large ice circle formed underneath Di Roy, freezing his legs to the ground. He quickly broke free of it and rose in the air.

"Don't think you can beat me that easily, woman," Di Roy said laughing. "My true battlefield is the sky, a sword that freezes the ground can't hit airborne targets!"

"What a pity," Rukia said smirking as the ice on the ground suddenly shot upwards and completely froze Di Roy who was still laughing. "My sword doesn't simply freeze the ground. Anything within this circle, both earth and sky, is within it's reach." Rukia turned her back on him and walked back to Ichigo as the ice pillar shattered and Di Roy fell to a thousand pieces on the floor.

Rukia sheathed her sword as she reached Ichigo who was still fighting with Chappy. She sighed at them before ordering Chappy to leave him alone.

"Rukia!" Ichigo suddenly said as he got up from the ground and tested his arms to see if they were broken. "Did you get him already?"

"Of course I did," she huffed. "Otherwise I wouldn't be here, would I?"

"Yeah, but still. Why would you sent this _cute_ rabbit to come and get me while it's not even needed. You easily killed him alone." Ichigo said earning him a hateful glare from Chappy.

"I told Chappy to get you because I felt a lot of heavy Reiatsu patterns. The one I fought was obviously very weak. Your dad left him to me while he went away to chase the bigger ones. We need you for them, he can't be very far yet." Rukia said before looking up in the air to Renji to check if he would be able to beat his opponent.

"My dad has joined the fight as well?" Ichigo yelled. "I have to help him!"

"Stop your whining, and follow me, Ichigo, but please don't rush into battle without thinking, those guys are the real thing." Rukia said before running off towards Isshin.

---|---

She slammed open the doors as she entered the Research and Development Institute with a small leather bag strapped on her back. Yoruichi hoped she was still in time to convince Mayuri to ignore the rules. There were heavy battles going on in Karakura Town right now, and they needed the Captain and Vice-captains at full strength to beat them. Luckily Urahara had given her something to give Mayuri if he didn't want to cooperate. That man only had one weakness…

All the heads from the people working in the Institute shot up as Yoruichi stumbled inside. "I need to speak to Mayuri right now!" She yelled once she regained her footing.

"And why do you need to speak to me, Yoruichi?" His voice called out from behind the big radar that had a few large crimson dots on its screen. "And I would appreciate it if you'd address me properly in the future." He added as he got up from his chair, and walked over to her.

"We need your help, Mayuri!" She said, ignoring his request like always. "There are a lot of powerful Arrancar in Karakura Town, and the people who are tasked with the protection of the town need their limiters released immediately."

"We're working on it, but you know I can't give them permission right away, Yoruichi," he said a bit annoyed. "I can't ignore the standard protocols. All the Shinigami in Karakura Town are very strong, they should be able to manage until we've gotten authorisation."

"I know you don't want to get into trouble, Mayuri, but if you help your fellow Shinigami out in the Real World, I'll give you something in return. Trust me, you won't regret the deal," Yoruichi said with a wicked smile on her face as she grabbed the leather backpack and started rummaging through it.

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Chapter 12 is done!

The chapter is a bit shorter than my previous chapters because I cut it in half. If I wrote everything in one chapter it might've gotten a bit too long so I figured it would be nice to let everyone read the first part already while I work on the second. I hope no one minds it.

The fights are really breaking loose next chapter, but I do have to tell you I'm going to be quite busy again. The updates will come a bit slower because of that, but I'll try to keep updating quickly, though! Anyways, I hope everyone enjoyed this chapter even though it seems a bit incomplete. And please tell me what your opinions are on Rukia getting a little bit angry with Soul Society, or at least with Central 46 and Yamamoto. I know it wasn't like that in Canon, but I like it this way.

Please R&R!


	13. Chapter 13: Under attack II

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Bleach or any of the characters.

**Chapter 13: Under attack II**

"Oh?" Mayuri said, clearly interested in whatever it was that Yoruichi was going to offer him. It was true he didn't want to skip the standard procedures in releasing the limit for the Shinigami who were fighting in the real world right now, but knowing Yoruichi and Urahara, the offer would probably be quite interesting. It wouldn't do to wave it off before checking what it was first. He didn't mind going against the laws of Soul Society if he got something for his research in return.

"And what might that offer of yours be, Yoruichi?" Mayuri asked as he eyed the grinning Yoruichi in front of him suspiciously. He never quite understood why she always was so confident.

"Just something Urahara has been researching. He figured that you'd like it, but instead of letting me bring it to you, he decided it might be better if you'd release the limiters first," she said. "That is _if_ you want these valuable research notes and samples."

Yoruichi could see the radars behind Mayuri's eyes working at full speed. He didn't want to break the laws in Soul Society, but everyone knew his biggest weakness: research material. He would do everything to gather it. Unless he had already completed his research on the material you offered, of course. But Yoruichi knew he would want the results from Urahara's field research. It most likely contained valuable information about the Espada or else Urahara wouldn't have send her to Mayuri to blackmail him into helping the Shinigami that were tasked with the protection of Karakura Town.

"Stop smiling so smugly and tell me what kind of information you've got for me," Mayuri said after a while. He didn't like to be blackmailed like this, but if the information proved to be valuable he would help them. It wasn't like helping the Shinigami in the Real World was a big crime, even if he had to break the laws to do it.

"Alright, Mayuri," Yoruichi said, finally getting to the point. "I'm not going to show you the material before you agree with our terms, but I guess I can tell you what kind of information we've got for you. I don't know much about it, but from what Urahara has told me, the material consists of everything he has been able to gather about the Espada as of yet. I wouldn't have gone to you with just some general information about them, though. So Urahara has added everything from his field research in it."

"His field research?"

"Yes, the last time I was here you told me something about a small Espada attack in Karakura Town. There weren't any people injured, and the Espada left quickly after entering the town. I actually kept my promise this time and asked Urahara if he could gather some information about the attackers. He said he found some interesting things about them, but before I give you that information you'll have to release the limiters."

Mayuri frowned at her. The information seemed to be important enough to help those Shinigami with their limiters, but if the information was fake he would go to Karakura Town himself and skin Urahara alive.

After giving her one last harsh look he finally gave in. "Alright, you win, Yoruichi."

"That's what I thought, Mayuri," she said smirking.

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Rukia was holding on to Ichigo for dear life as they were running through the streets of Karakura Town. After she had defeated the rather weak Di Roy Rukia had ordered Chappy to go to the Kurosaki Clinic, and then they'd gone after Isshin who had disappeared in this direction. They'd barely been running for ten seconds when Ichigo suddenly stopped, and told her that she had to climb on his back. Rukia, being who she was, told him she could walk just fine by herself and didn't need his help, but Ichigo had merely chuckled in response and told her he knew she could walk by herself. He wasn't worried about her being injured, but he just wanted to get there as fast as possible without being separated from her. After telling her that Rukia had given him one more suspicious look, but she didn't want to waste precious time so she had obliged and climbed on his back.

The moment she had clasped her arms around his neck he released his bankai, and his Hollow mask formed, before he kicked off from the ground and dashed away at a sickening pace. Rukia had to squint her eyes against the strong wind, and she was barely able to see where they were going. She knew Lisa had been working on his speed a lot the past few weeks, but she hadn't expected that he would get this fast in that time. She doubted that even her nii-sama would be able to keep up with Ichigo right now. Rukia was really looking forward to his battle with Hiyori now, it would be quite interesting to see two Vaizards sparring with each other. And, Judging by Ichigo's improvements, Rukia guessed that the Vaizards were a lot stronger than she'd thought they would be.

Suddenly Rukia felt two strong opponents approaching them from their left side. "Ichigo," she began. "There are two strong Arrancar to the left, do you think we should stop them, or do you want to go to Isshin right away?"

Ichigo slowed down and stopped before letting Rukia slid off of his back. "I want to make sure my dad is okay, but I'd hate to see what'll happen when those two start attacking the town. It'll be for the best if we stop them right now. If we don't, they might even attack Inoue. She's the one who'll be helping everyone who gets injured by the Arrancar and Espada."

"Is Inoue out of the hideout as well? Why didn't you let her hold on to you like you did with me?"

"Because I'm a magnet for strong opponents," Ichigo said sadly. "And Inoue hasn't had enough training to be able to fight with us yet. I figured it'd be safer to let her stay behind a little. She's not ready for battle, yet."

Rukia nodded at him. "Yes, I guess you're right. As long as you don't try to keep everyone safe by yourself for no reason. You're not alone in battle, all your friends are with you in this battle."

"Yes, I know that. While I was training with Lisa I learned that I need to fight together with my friends in order to beat Aizen. But Inoue simply isn't ready for battle just yet. Her healing powers are amazing, though." Ichigo said, sounding very impressed.

Rukia gave him a genuine smile. "Thank you, Ichigo."

"What for?"

"For trusting your friends instead of pushing them away in your battles."

Rukia looked up at Ichigo and wanted to tell him the Arrancar were near when he suddenly disappeared from sight. Rukia turned around when she heard a clanging sound right behind her. She saw Ichigo standing there, holding his Zanpakutou with two hands as he blocked the hand of an Arrancar who would've impaled her back. Rukia was amazed that Ichigo was able to detect the threat so fast and was able to avoid the attack aimed at her. Rukia looked at the Arrancar's face, but she really couldn't tell if it was a man or a woman.

Ichigo managed to push the Arrancar back without much effort at all, and he jumped back together with Rukia, both ready for the fight.

"I'm surprised you were able to detect that attack, I hope you've got more then that, though. It'd be a waste if you'd get yourself killed right away," the Arrancar taunted, removing any doubts regarding its gender. That voice was too low to belong to a woman.

Ichigo's scowl deepened as he looked at the Arrancar. He was very young, and had short black hair. Above his left eye he had three little pink stars and the remains of his Hollow mask – which resembled a top row of teeth – rested on the left side of his head.

When Ichigo remained silent he started speaking again. "I'm Luppi, Sextra Espada." Luppi sounded very proud of himself. It was obvious he had just recently acquired his new position among the Espada.

"Espada, huh? What happened to Grimmjow? I thought he was the Sextra Espada," Ichigo asked.

"Yes, he was. But when he came back from the Real World he suddenly lost an arm and was demoted. I took his place," Luppi said smiling widely. "But enough chatter now, why don't the two of you come at me together? I hope that will be enough to get a real fight, but I really doubt it."

Ichigo looked at Rukia, and after receiving a quick nod from her, he tightened his grip on his sword, and charged forward at an enormous speed. He knew Espada's were really strong, but somehow he doubted that this Luppi was strong enough to receive number six. Ichigo didn't want to underestimate him, though, so he called out his Hollow powers and his familiar mask that had disappeared when he'd stopped here reappeared. With a big growl he brought his black sword down on the Espada.

Luppi's smile vanished as he blocked the attack with his arm. The grinding of steel against steel could be heard as Ichigo's sword scraped against his Hierro. He certainly hadn't expected the orange haired boy to be this fast or powerful. And what was it with that mask on his face? Luppi didn't believe the boy was a Hollow, but why was he so fast after that mask had appeared? His Reiatsu smelled a bit Hollow-like as well.

Luppi cursed his rather weak Hierro as Ichigo drew blood when he pulled his sword back. "You'll pay for that!" Luppi hissed in pain as blood soaked the sleeve of his left arm. "I don't know why you're able to keep up with me, or why you're similar to a Hollow, but I'm not going to go easy on you now."

"Big words," Ichigo taunted, although he was a little worried. This was the first time he would use his bankai after he got so fast under Lisa's training. He noticed he couldn't control it very well, but he hoped that he would get it under control further on in the battle. "I don't know why Aizen even made you an Espada. He must've hit his head really hard to make a mistake like this. Grimmjow is a lot stronger than you, I doubt he'll have trouble beating you, even with only one arm."

"Don't underestimate me, boy. The reason Aizen made me Espada is because my power excels Grimmjows by a lot in my released form." Luppi bragged as he cradled his injured arm. "Don't think you'll even be able to scratch me when I release."

"Release?" Ichigo asked confused, he didn't know that the Espada had a released form.

"Yes, when we release we regain the abilities we had when we were still Hollows. That's why we call it our Resurrección." Luppi smirked, clearly enjoying the confused looks adorning Ichigo and Rukia's faces. Luppi decided to release straight away, otherwise the boy might be able to severely injure him. He straightened himself before shouting his release command. "Strangle, Trepadora!"

Ichigo and Rukia backed away a little bit more when Luppi was obscured from view by a big smokescreen. They didn't want to be caught by surprise by Luppi's released form. It'd be better to wait for the smoke to clear so they could see the annoying Espada. Ichigo was inclined to believe Luppi to a certain extent. He didn't think Luppi was as strong as he wanted them to believe, but in his released form – whatever it may be – he had to be a lot stronger then they thought he was.

While Ichigo was waiting for the smoke to clear he noticed a strangely familiar presence nearby. He couldn't really place it, but he knew he had encountered the dark Reiatsu at least once before. It was too strong for Rukia, and since it didn't come closer Ichigo decided to let it rest for a moment. He wanted to beat this Luppi guy before he went to check the other one out.

Ichigo was abruptly distracted from his thoughts when a white tentacle shot out of the smoke, and nearly grabbed him by his ankle. He managed to deflect it with his sword just in time, but the tentacle seemed to be really tough. A lot tougher then his skin at least.

"Is that everything there is about that Resurrección of yours, Luppi?" Ichigo taunted. "Just some tentacle to attack your opponents at long range. You're an pathetic excuse of an Espada, do you know that?"

Luppi merely laughed in response, and this time four tentacles shot out of the smoke which seemed to get a little thinner now. Ichigo's eyes widened, and he quickly jumped to the side, dragging Rukia along with him. The attack missed because they were all fired at the same time, but Ichigo figured he would have much more trouble dodging them if Luppi fired them simultaneously. Ichigo cast a glance at Rukia, who was holding her white Zanpakutou in a death grip, and gave her a quick nod, indicating that she should start attacking Luppi at long range as well.

Rukia returned the nod, and got ready to attack Luppi. She closed her eyes in concentration for a few moments before calling out the name of her attack. "Tsugi no mai, Hakuren!"

Rukia fired a wide-scale ice attack at the Espada which blew away all the remaining smoke surrounding her target. Her attack hadn't been as effective as she'd hoped it would be, though. Four of Luppi's tentacles and his lower body were covered in ice, but the Espada had four more tentacles, and used those to break himself free from the ice. When he was done with breaking the ice he glared angrily at Rukia, and launched a counter-attack.

Rukia tried to dodge the tentacles that were aimed for her, but she wasn't as fast as Ichigo. No matter how hard she tried Rukia couldn't keep avoiding Luppi. After only a few moments he managed to bind Rukia in one of his tentacles which left her gasping for air.

Ichigo's eyes widened when he saw that Rukia was being crushed to death by that white tentacle, and jumped into action. His sword in his right hand he avoided several attacks aimed for his head, and quickly reached Rukia. With one powerful strike he cut her loose. She was panting heavily as she discarded the limp tentacle which was still attached to her body, and thanked him.

Luppi chuckled at them as his ruined tentacle regenerated itself. "Do you really think you can beat me with that? I can easily keep up with you, and I'm not even using all my tentacles yet." As he said this Luppi rose all his tentacles at once, and little spikes erupted from the tops. "Let's see if you can still breath when I'm done with you this time, girl!"

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Ulquiorra watched from a distance as Luppi attacked the two Shinigami. They were doing pretty good, but when you're fighting eight tentacles it's quite hard to land a decisive blow on your opponent. Nonetheless, Ulquiorra was still impressed by the orange haired boy. Compared to the last time he'd seen him he had improved… a lot. It was obvious he had been training a lot in the past few weeks. The boy was much faster, and he was using a Hollow mask to increase his speed as well. Ulquiorra didn't know how he had managed to do that. The only thing he could think of that could've increased his Hollow powers were those bracelets he got from Grimmjow, but he wasn't using those at the moment.

If he isn't using them right now doesn't mean he hasn't tried to use them in the last few weeks, though. There's only one way to find out if he has or not, but Ulquiorra decided to watch the battle for a bit longer before he did anything himself.

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Luppi was getting a bit frustrated as the boy kept dodging his attacks. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't give the boy more than a few scratches. The little girl was weaker, though. She wasn't very fast, but if he started attacking her head-on he would be open for incoming attacks from the orange haired kid. Luppi decided he would have to take a risk and try to kill the girl quickly before focussing his attention solely on the boy.

Luppi fought of Ichigo with only three of his tentacles and used the rest to surprise Rukia. She couldn't keep up with all five of them, and was impaled in her chest by one of Luppi's tentacles.

Rukia's mouth went wide in a silent scream as blood poured from the wound in her chest, and soaked her clothes. The sharp pain in her back indicated that one of the spikes attached on the tentacles had hit her spine, and punctured a hole in it. Despite Byakuya's efforts to keep her safe Rukia had had a lot of experience with severe wounds in her past. Both when she was still training to become a Shinigami, and when she was sent on dangerous missions with her squad after she'd graduated from the academy, but nothing she had felt those times could compare with the burning pain in her chest right now.

Luppi twisted his tentacle violently when it was still embedded within Rukia's chest, and threw her to the side, ripping one of her lungs in the process. Rukia screamed as she hit the floor and clutched her chest with two hands, trying to halt the blood gushing out of the open wound. She had trouble breathing because of her collapsed long, and the loss of blood was getting to her as well. The whole world was spinning in front of her eyes, and she doubted she would make it till the end of the day.

As the darkness tried to claim her Rukia heard Ichigo screaming as he completely obliterated the tentacle that had pierced her. She thought back at her days with Kaien-dono as she watched the orange haired boy. He really does resemble him, I'm glad I came to know him, and I entrust my heart with him, just like Kaien-dono did with me. Her eyes grew heavy, and everything in front of her was blurring. Rukia let out a few more labored breaths, and just before her world went black she thought she faintly heard a static booming sound and the yell of a woman.

That's odd.

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Chad fearfully looked at the big man in front of him. It wasn't often he was intimidated by the size of his opponents, but this time he certainly was. The man was enormous, he had a big face with bushy sideburns, and he sported a thin ponytail at the back of his head. He also had fragments of his Hollow mask which resembled his jawbone on his chin. The moment Chad laid his eyes on the big man he knew he had no chance whatsoever to defeat him.

He knew he wasn't the strongest around Karakura Town, but when Chad sensed Ichigo outside together with the other Shinigami and several Arrancar he just couldn't stop himself, and went straight after his friend. He had made a promise together with Ichigo years ago. They'd promised each other they would fight for the other. This way Chad could fight without breaking his promise to his grandfather, Oscar Joaquín de la Rosa. He had promised never to use his fists for his own sake, not even when he was getting beat up by other people. Chad regretted he hadn't trained as hard as his friends. Ishida was gone, probably training, and Inoue had been training as well, but Ichigo was training the hardest. He would do anything to keep his friends and family safe.

Chad didn't know what exactly his friend had been doing the past few weeks. He knew Ichigo had been training together with the Vaizards, but he didn't know what kind of training Ichigo was undergoing. And Inoue had recently disappeared as well. Chad could sense her now so he figured she must've gone to Ichigo and went training together with him when she disappeared. He hoped they would train her well. Inoue wasn't really the person who liked to fight, but she was also desperate to protect her friends, and would do anything for them. Chad wanted to protect everyone around him as well. Especially Ichigo since they had promised to fight for each other when Ichigo saved his precious Mexican coin he'd gotten from his grandfather, but Chad couldn't figure out what his powers were exactly. He knew they didn't resemble a Shinigami's like Inoue's power did, but it wasn't really like a Quincy either.

Hardening his resolve Chad transformed his right arm, and looked the man in front of him. The man was a wild savage, and even though he was no match for him Chad sprang into action. He would fight as well. Fight to protect everyone close to him. Fight for his friends. Fight for Ichigo.

"Oi, boy," Yammy said to the boy in front of him. "You don't happen to know where the father of that orange haired kid is? I owe him a severe beating."

Instead of an spoken answer, Yammy received a spiritual blast of energy in his gut. Yammy's eyes widened a bit, he hadn't expected the boy to actually attack him, but other than that he didn't show any reaction. The blast of spiritual energy he received from Chad didn't do any damage to his thick skin.

"I'll take that as a no then," Yammy said grinning like a madman. "Well, that's it then I guess, I'll look further for that old man."

His huge grin still on his face Yammy held up his fist in front of his face, and it glowed red before he fired several Bala attacks at Chad, which hit his arms and chest. Chad sported several severe burns on his body, and his clothes were completely ruined. They uselessly hang over his smoking body. Chad staggered on his feet and fell onto the ground, crying in pain as he fell on one of his burned arms.

As Yammy was walking away to search for the man who'd cleaved off his arm the last time he was here Chad moved and tried to stand up, determined to fight till the end. Even though he wasn't the strongest he still wanted to protect his friends. If he survived this mess Chad would make sure he would find someone who could train him so he could protect the people around him. These Arrancar were extremely dangerous, and Chad figured that even the Shinigami from Soul Society would need all the help they could get from Karakura Town.

When he heard the boy behind him move Yammy turned around, and to his surprise he saw that the boy was still breathing. He looked very battered, and he also had angry red burns from the Bala attacks. "Oh? You still alive?" He said smirking as he edged closer. "You're a rather tough fellow, aren't you? Well, that doesn't matter anymore. I'll make sure you will suffer no more, boy."

Yammy stood over the boy on the ground and charged his Cero. But when he fired it, the Cero didn't hit the boy, but impacted on the ground. Yammy blinked as the smoke cleared, wondering how the human boy had moved so fast when he was wounded so badly he couldn't even walk a few moments ago.

"Playtime is over, mister Espada." A very familiar voice rang out behind him. Yammy spun around, and he saw the man he'd been looking for carefully laying the Mexican boy on the ground so he wouldn't unintentionally hurt him more. Isshin didn't think Chad's life was in danger, but he needed to be brought to his clinic or a hospital soon otherwise the burns on his body could become fatal. "You did well," Isshin whispered to Chad. "I'll take over from here."

Isshin straightened himself, and faced Yammy who looked like his birthday had come early. "If I knew you wanted to see me this badly, I would've dropped by earlier you know. It's a shame I don't know where in Hueco Mundo you live, though," Isshin said.

Unable to contain himself, Yammy immediately grabbed his Zanpakutou, and leapt towards his opponent. He wanted to let him pay for what he'd done to his arm the last time they'd fought. That time the old man had been lucky. Yammy had been focussed on his son, and he hadn't noticed the man until he cut off his arm.

"Ah, you got your arm back I see, I should've destroyed it last time." Isshin said, and he to, grabbed his sword. "I'll have you know though, the previous time we fought I was still a little rusty. It had been a long time since I had a fight, but I've gotten a bit better again in the past few weeks."

Without even blinking once Isshin easily blocked Yammy's attack from the side with one hand. Yammy who hadn't been listening to Isshin at all looked up in surprise. He hadn't expected him to react so fast, and it didn't even seem to cost him any trouble at all. Suddenly, the pressure against his sword increased, and Yammy jumped back as fast as he could, but it wasn't fast enough to completely dodge Isshin's sword coming at his face.

Yammy growled at Isshin as he clutched the left side of his face. The wound above his left eyebrow wasn't very deep, but the problem with wounds like that is that they bleed a lot. Yammy was used to fighting, and he'd rather have a deep wound in his arm than a little cut on his forehead. Those little cuts were annoying as hell. He swiped the blood out of his eye a few times before deeming it worthless, and he simply closed his left eye, and got ready to attack again. Yammy wasn't very proficient with Sonido, but figuring that attacking Isshin head-on was dangerous he decided to use it anyway.

The sound of Sonido could be heard when Yammy disappeared, and almost at the same time he reappeared behind Isshin. He thrust his sword forward, but Isshin, without even looking over his shoulder, stopped it. Yammy didn't leave it at that, though. He opened his mouth and it glowed red as he started firing his Cero attack.

When Isshin noticed this he quickly turned on the spot while shouting: "Uzu, Shouta!"

The double bladed sword formed, and Isshin didn't waste any time. He held his sword in front of him and started swirling it when he looked at a slightly surprised Yammy. The Cero that was forming in his mouth was steadily increasing in size, and when it reached its full power Yammy released it. Isshin dug his feet in the ground as he powered the attack of his sword. The Cero clashed against his sword, and was slowly, but surely, overpowering Isshin. The air around them sizzled, and Isshin was forced deeper into to the ground. He quickly called out more spiritual powers, and with a big grunt he finally managed to push the Cero away. The red beam flew past Isshin and crashed into a nearby building.

Yammy didn't stop for even one second, and continued attacking Isshin furiously. Their swords clashed and clanged in the morning air. Every time Yammy almost hit Isshin, the man used his wind manipulation to stop the angry Espada. Yammy was furious at Isshin, that man was a pain in the ass. During their battle he hadn't even moved from his spot as he dodged, blocked, and countered all the attacks the Decima Espada fired at him. It was obvious that the man had years of experience; he was able to read Yammy's attacks, and he didn't waste any energy as he countered them.

Three spikes of Reiatsu suddenly caught the attention of both Yammy and Isshin.

The two of them looked in the direction where they felt the burst, and they saw three beams of spiritual power reaching up in the sky. "Looks like the Shinigami from Soul Society have had their limiters released," Isshin told a frowning Yammy. "Their battles will be over soon, I'd better finish up here as well, and aid my son in his fight against the other Espada."

As Isshin said that his released Zanpakutou started swirling again, and he slowly moved forward. The man in front of him wasn't as confident as he'd been at the start of the fight, but nonetheless he didn't back away, and raised his sword, preparing for the second part of their battle. Isshin graciously moved his sword from left to right as he inched closer to his target, and when he reached him he lashed out like a snake attacking his prey, and left a long gash on Yammy's left forearm. Without giving the Espada even time to scream, Isshin lashed out again, and his spinning sword buried itself in Yammy's right shoulder.

Yammy screamed as his shoulder joint was completely shattered. Blood and small pieces of bone flew around as the spinning sword made its way through Yammy's shoulder, and severed his entire arm. Yammy clutched his bleeding stump as he fell onto the ground, and the puddle of blood he created on the ground was quickly increasing in size.

Isshin grimly looked at the bleeding Espada. He didn't like to kill, but during his life as Shinigami he had learned that it was necessary. Just when Isshin raised his sword to deliver the final blow which would ensure that the Espada would never return to Hueco Mundo he felt the spirit pulse of Rukia collapsing. She was far away, but Isshin knew she was in serious trouble. Without hesitating even one second he quickly moved away from Yammy, grabbed the body of an unconscious Chad, laid him over his shoulder, and made his way to Rukia as if the hounds of hell were on his tail. He wasn't going to lose another dear friend. He had lots to tell and teach Rukia, she couldn't die now!

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Inoue firmly held her hands around Lisa's neck as they flew past buildings at an enormous speed. Not in her wildest dreams did Inoue think she would ever go this fast. Lisa had her Hollow mask on her head, and moved at full speed. They were going towards Ichigo and Rukia who were fighting against two extremely powerful opponents. Or at least one of them, the other one held his Reiatsu low, and seemed to be a little further away. Lisa and Inoue figured he was simply watching the battle, but he would probably interfere when his partner got hurt or killed. Which, Lisa had ensured her, wouldn't take long.

Inoue was glad she met Lisa when she had been walking towards Ichigo. Without Lisa she wouldn't have had any chance of catching up with Ichigo, and helping those who needed her before it was too late at all. Inoue had been walking as fast as she could when she heard a static sound next to her, and she saw a slightly annoyed Lisa standing there. At first Inoue had been afraid that Lisa was mad at her, but she probably was mad at someone else, because Lisa offered to help her get to Ichigo as fast as possible. She'd told her they needed her powers. Inoue was glad she was needed, and had agreed to come with Lisa right away. Her fighting powers were still rather weak, but her healing powers were very good. Inoue was glad that her powers got recognised by Ichigo and most of the Vaizards now. When they went to Soul Society to rescue Rukia she'd felt useless, but now she knew what she could do, and it made her feel good. Inoue felt they were almost there, she really hoped Ichigo and Rukia would be okay, their opponents seemed very dangerous, but they should be able to handle the one they were fighting with the two of them. Rukia was very strong, and Ichigo had grown a lot while training together with Lisa as well.

Looking over her shoulder Lisa saw that Inoue was deep in thought. She was staring at nothing in particular, and her face was scrunched up in worry. Lisa was glad Ichigo had such good friends who were worried about him. He should be okay, but somehow Lisa was a little worried, though. Sure, the Espada he was fighting now was pretty strong, but together with Rukia he should have been able to defeat it already. Unless, of course, he had trouble controlling his speed. This was probably the first time he was using his bankai in battle. From what he'd told her, his speed increased by a lot when he used it, and therefore he probably had to get used to it. The other Espada was a different story, though. The Espada who was watching the battle was much stronger than the one who was fighting Ichigo at the moment. She didn't think Ichigo could beat him in his current condition, but if he managed to get his speed under control he might be able to keep up with him. Lisa focussed her attention in front of her again, and within moments she arrived at the scene where Ichigo and Rukia were fighting right now.

What they saw had to be the weirdest looking thing they'd ever seen. Ichigo and Rukia were fighting an odd looking boy (or was it a girl?) with eight enormous tentacles. Ichigo was fighting five of them at once and try as he might, he just couldn't get away from them. This was probably because he couldn't control his speed very good, yet, but that wasn't everything. His opponent, though not very strong, was a bitch to fight. It was like he was fighting against five strong opponents, instead of one. The tentacles regenerated every time they were cut off, and with the spikes at the end they were very dangerous.

Suddenly two of the five tentacles that were attacking Ichigo attacked Rukia together with the three tentacles that were already lashing out at her. Rukia who wasn't as fast as Ichigo was no match for them. She didn't even last five seconds before she got impaled in her chest by one of the tentacles. Rukia screamed as she was flung to the side, and landed on the hard ground. Ichigo, in shock of what he'd seen, rushed to her side and completely obliterated the tentacle that had impaled Rukia.

Inoue leapt from Lisa's back, and, while she let out a girly scream, she rushed towards Rukia as well. Quickly recovering from the shock she didn't waste any more time and immediately called forth her power. "Soten Kisshun, I reject!" She yelled as two fairy-like creatures shot out of her hairpins.

Ichigo saw Inoue rushing towards their friend, and quickly moved to the side. He didn't want to be in the way and spoil the only chance Rukia had for survival. He was glad that Inoue had come, but how was it possible she got here so fast? The only one who could've made it from where she was to here in such a short time was…

"Ichigo! What the hell were you thinking running off like that without telling me? These guys are dangerous!" Lisa yelled as she whacked him across the face, although not as hard as Ichigo had expected from her.

"I'm sorry Lisa, I was worried, and acted without thinking, I…-" Ichigo started.

"Shut up, Ichigo. You'll hear about this when we're done here. We've got Espada to exterminate." Lisa interrupted him, and her face hardened when her eyes zeroed on Luppi who was watching the events unfold in front of him with a smirk on his face.

"You can try what you want, but that girl is as good as dead. No healing ability, no matter how powerful, can heal the damage I inflicted on her," he said.

"We'll see about that, little girl." Lisa said as she grabbed her sword tighter.

Luppi's left eye twitched as Lisa said that, and he lashed out at her with four tentacles at once. "I'm not a girl, you four eyed freak!" He yelled furiously.

"You act like one, though." Lisa countered as she easily deflected the tentacles that Luppi had fired at her.

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Ulquiorra's eyes widened as he saw what the girl was doing with that weird barrier. It didn't look like some kind of healing power at all. Ulquiorra got a little closer so he could watch the wounded Shinigami, and he was surprised at what he saw. Not only was the gaping hole in her chest closing up, but her clothes were repairing while they were under influence of the barrier as well. This was one weird power indeed. It looked like that girl was able to reverse the time and undo what had been done inside that barrier of hers.

It could be quite problematic if the unconscious girl got up, and would be able to join the fight again. If they combined their powers they would be able to defeat Luppi without any trouble at all. They wouldn't be able to defeat him, but if they attacked him with full force he might get hurt while fighting them off, and he was ordered to at least let the orange haired boy live until he knew what Ichigo had learned about those bracelets. Making up his mind Ulquiorra figured it would be for the best if he stopped the girl with her weird barriers right away. The orange haired kid was very protective and would probably attack him right away which would be better then letting him fight with Luppi.

Ulquiorra quickly moved over to the girl before any of the others noticed he had moved from his position, and, with one swift kick, she crashed into a nearby building were she slumped to the floor, unconscious. One of her arms stuck up in an odd angle, Ulquiorra figured it had probably been broken on impact. He looked down and saw that the Shinigami who she'd been helping seemed to be doing a little better. The wound wasn't healed completely, but the bleeding had stopped, and her breathing had improved as well.

When Ichigo noticed Ulquiorra standing over Rukia he immediately rushed to his friend, hoping he would be in time to save her life. Lisa wanted to follow him as well, she didn't think he'd be able to fight off Ulquiorra alone, but Luppi stopped her with all of his tentacles, and Lisa was stopped in her efforts to get away. It was very hard to keep up with eight of those things at the same time.

"Get away from her!" Ichigo screamed as he made his way to Ulquiorra.

Ulquiorra moved around as he heard Ichigo screaming. The boy really was very protective of his friends. Ulquiorra didn't understand this at all. The weak ones shouldn't be protected, they should get stronger themselves, or get killed in the process. Ulquiorra was glad the boy was very protective, though. It was easy to provoke him, and he could test his strength and potential by hurting the people close to him.

Stepping away from the small Shinigami, Ulquiorra eyed the approaching boy. This was the first time he'd seen the Hollow-like mask he wore from such a short distance, and he wondered what the boy exactly was. Ulquiorra was sure he was no ordinary Hollow, or an Arrancar. The boy could remove his mask without much trouble. For the normal Hollow and Arrancar it was very painful to do this. The boy did not endure that pain, it even looked like he had to concentrate himself to keep his mask on. It was like his power was the complete opposite, but also exactly the same as the Arrancar.

It was a good thing the boy was probably still very angry at him because he'd killed one of his friends. It'd by quite annoying if he would have to kill his weak friends in order to gauge his strength, and see if he had used those bracelets at all.

When Ichigo reached Ulquiorra he immediately thrust his sword forward in pure anger. This was the man. The man who aided Aizen, the man who killed Tatsuki, and the man who hurt Orihime. And on top of all that he intended to kill Rukia as well.

He was the seed of trouble.

"I see you've learned to focus yourself on the threat at hand instead of weeping over the still form of your friend, Ichigo. That is what cost you her life last time," Ulquiorra said as he easily deflected Ichigo's black sword.

"You're the one who killed her, not me!" Ichigo fired back as his anger was consuming him. His blood thundered through his veins as his attacks increased and the sheer force of his Reiatsu alone caused the ground to crack and crumble.

Ulquiorra just kept dodging his ill attempts on his life without even using his own sword. The boy's fighting abilities were pathetic. No wonder he had trouble with Luppi. Together with the girl he should've been able to defeat him, but his fighting stance was sloppy, and his attacks were very easy to read. The boy really was extremely bad at control.

Ichigo, noticing that this battle was going nowhere stopped for a moment to catch his breath. He suddenly looked to his right when he felt his father approaching him.

His father.

Ichigo remembered all the training he'd gotten from him before he had gotten his Shinigami powers. He couldn't let the old man down and die here. What was it he had said about strong emotions in battle again?

Ichigo dug into his memory until he remembered the things his father had taught him about emotions, and how they were used in battle. He had said that there were three kinds of people in battle. There were the people who could completely shut off their emotions while they fought. Those people deemed emotions worthless, and became cold killers without any show of compassion whatsoever, just like the man in front of him right now. There were also people who fought with the aid of their emotions. They let their emotions motivate them to fight. His father had called them the protectors, they fought to protect the ones close to them, it could be very dangerous to fight like that, though. If you let those emotions to protect others consume you in battle you would fall into the last category. Those people were fools. They let their emotions control them, instead of guide them. Those fighters mostly ended up dead before the fight had even started.

Swallowing heavily Ichigo closed his eyes. He was currently acting like the fools in the last category. He was letting his emotions control him. After his mother had died he had promised himself that he would never let that happen again. He would be strong, and he would let his emotions guide him in battle so he could be strong to protect the people close to him.

Ichigo took a few deep breaths, searching for the calm presence within his mind. He would never again let hatred overtake him. With the people he wanted to protect and those who had protected him countless of times in his mind, Ichigo opened his eyes again. Ulquiorra curiously looked at Ichigo, and was waiting for him to move. His face was as impassive as ever. Ichigo could see the cold mask the Espada wore over his emotions. If he wasn't so mad at him Ichigo might've felt sorry for the miserable man behind that mask. Ulquiorra seriously thought that emotions were worthless…

How very wrong he was.

Ichigo lunged forward and slashed his sword down. Ulquiorra's eyes widened a bit, but, other than that, he didn't show any reaction at all when he quickly pulled out his sword to block a completely different Ichigo. The steel of their blades grinded against each other as Ulquiorra tried to stop him with one hand.

"You finally deem me worthy of your sword, Espada?" Ichigo asked with a grin when Ulquiorra finally managed to push Ichigo back and jumped backwards to increase the distance between them.

Before Ulquiorra could retort Ichigo went into the offensive again. He moved at full speed, avoided Ulquiorra's attacks, and was able to be the first one to draw blood in the battle as he made a cut in Ulquiorra's forearm.

"This battle is mine," Ichigo yelled as he held his sword, dripping with blood, in front of him, and concentrated his Reiatsu in its tip.

"Kuroi Getsuga!"

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As she dodged the tentacles with the use of Sonido, Lisa cast a quick glance to her side. She saw that Ichigo finally had his anger under control, and seemed to be doing pretty good against his opponent. At least, up till now. Lisa knew Ichigo's opponent was fighting with the minimum of his total strength right now, but it was still an impressive feat to be able to keep up with him. When she saw Ichigo drawing blood from Ulquiorra the first time she was forced to concentrate on Luppi again. The little kid was far from powerful, the best description for his fighting abilities was probably annoying. Never before had she encountered such an annoying opponent before.

Other than a few scratches he wasn't able to do anything to her, but she couldn't do much to him either. The only time she'd been able to hit him was during her first attack. She'd surprised him by using Sonido, and was able to avoid all of his tentacles and made a shallow cut in his back with her sword. Lisa wished she'd cut off his head instead. The wound in his back wasn't deep enough to cause any real damage, and after a scream of pain he was ready for battle again. Although he wasn't that strong, the annoying little boy wasn't dumb. He'd learned from his mistake and adjusted his fighting style a little. Now he used five of his tentacles to keep Lisa busy, while he protected his own body with the remaining three.

Every time she got close to him Luppi managed to attack her from a different angle, and Lisa would be forced to either abort the attack, or cut through the tentacle which gave Luppi time to regenerate his other tentacles.

"I don't think you've got time to get distracted by the orange haired kid while you're fighting me," Luppi said distracting Lisa from her thoughts. He sent five of his tentacles flying towards her again, and one of them managed to break her defences and made a cut in her shoulder.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I just wanted to let you hit me so you've got a better chance to give me a good fight. From what I've seen so far you're rubbish," Lisa said smirking as she swiped blood from her shoulder. The wound kept bleeding, but luckily it wasn't very deep.

Luppi growled in response, and started attacking her more recklessly with eight of his tentacles. This mistake would've killed him, if not for the scream that penetrated their ears. Lisa was momentarily distracted as she looked at Ichigo who had been the source of the sound. She didn't even have time to see if he was all right or not, because her view was blocked by eight tentacles which all wrapped around her body. Her sword clattered on the ground as her legs were bound together and both of her arms were strapped behind her back so hard that she thought her blood circulation had been cut off.

Lisa cursed herself for her stupidity. She let herself get distracted, and now she was paying for it. Her sword was out of her reach so there wasn't much she could do with her arms bound behind her back. Nonetheless, she still struggled with everything she got against the tentacles binding her in place. She was resisting so furiously that Luppi seemed to have a little trouble keeping her still, but with eight tentacles it wasn't long until her efforts slowed down, and she was getting tired.

After a few moments Luppi pulled one of his tentacles back, and raised Lisa high in the air.

"Say goodbye," he said smirking, and the tentacle shot forward towards Lisa.

Lisa closed her eyes, and scrunched up her face as she awaited the inevitable. The smell of blood penetrated her nose as said substance splattered on her face, and soaked her entire front. The sound of dripping blood could be heard, but strangely enough she didn't feel any pain at all.

Am I already dead?

Lisa slowly opened her eyes, and she was shocked at what she saw.

"Shinji!" She yelled upon seeing his battered body hanging from the tip of Luppi's tentacle, the spikes on top of the tentacle had pierced his chest. Blood was flowing out of the wound, and Shinji's head was facing the floor beneath them. The grip on his sword tightened as he raised his head and faced Lisa.

"Do ya still think I'm worthless, Lisa?" He croaked, and with one slash he severed all the tentacles binding Lisa.

When she was free from the tentacles Lisa tried to get some feeling into her tingling arms again, and gently pulled Shinji of the spikes before laying him down on the floor.

"Why did you have to show off like that, stupid?" Lisa scolded him. "You could just have deflected it, you know."

If anyone who didn't know her had heard her say that they would've thought she was a cold and heartless bitch, but Shinji was grateful for her words. He'd heard her sincerity in it, and he knew she was truly worried about him.

Lisa picked up her sword from the ground and charged towards a surprised Luppi. "I'm the only one who is allowed to kill Shinji, you'll pay for this Espada!"

---|---

Ichigo clutched his right shoulder as he staggered a little on his feet. After he'd cut Ulquiorra's forearm the Espada improved his speed, and started fighting harder. The Espada had even deflected his Kuroi Getsuga as if it was nothing. Ichigo had been a little surprised by this, and as a result he'd received a rather deep wound in his shoulder. It hurt too much to be able to hold his sword in his right arm right now, but luckily he was quite capable of fighting with his left arm as well. Ulquiorra didn't know this, though, so Ichigo decided to wait until he attacked him before he grabbed his sword in his left arm.

"What are you waiting for, boy? Stop hesitating and use your bracelets. You'll be dead in no time if you don't," Ulquiorra said, and to his surprise Ichigo didn't seem to know what he was talking about at all.

"What the hell are you talking about?" Ichigo asked, surprise clearly written all over his face.

"Do you mean you haven't used those bracelets you've got from the previous Sextra Espada, Grimmjow at all?"

"Oh that one!" Ichigo said as he remembered the thick chain bracelet with that weird black stone on top of it. When Grimmjow had come to Karakura Town to fight with Ichigo he'd clasped it around his wrist. At first there was nothing wrong, but as soon as Ichigo formed his Hollow mask it had started glowing, and turned completely white. The pain he'd felt in his chest back then indicated that his Hollow powers were forcibly being pulled out.

"I really haven't thought about that lately," Ichigo continued truthfully.

It was true, when he'd come back with Lisa they'd promised each other to train with it later on, but the two of them had been so busy with training that neither of them had thought about it since then. Ichigo wondered why Ulquiorra was so interested in those bracelets. Did Aizen plan on using them for the Espada as well? If he did it could get very dangerous. From the short time he'd used it Ichigo knew your Hollow powers increased by a lot if you activated them.

"That so? Then there's no use in testing you anymore," Ulquiorra said indifferently, and with the static sound that Ichigo associated with Sonido he disappeared. Ichigo had to strain his eyes to see him move, but he was steadily getting used to his speed. When Ulquiorra appeared behind him and attempted to hit Ichigo with a horizontal slash Ichigo managed to duck just in time. The sound of Ulquiorra's sword slicing the air above him rang in his ears as Ichigo quickly threw his sword from his right hand into his left, and he twirled on the spot before thrusting his sword upwards. Ulquiorra managed to dodge the attack, but, although he didn't show it, he was quite surprised that the boy had been able to spot him so quickly. There were not many people who could.

Deciding it would be better to put an end to the battle Ulquiorra fired his green Cero, and hit Ichigo in his chest. Ichigo's clothes were partly burned and his chest was smoking as well.

"You enveloped your body with Reiatsu to lessen the impact," Ulquiorra stated matter-of-factly. "That won't be enough to stop my next attack, though."

Ulquiorra moved away with Sonido again, but this time Ichigo could follow his movements better than last time. Ichigo turned to the side and slashed Ulquiorra across his chest. His Hierro blocked most of the damage, but that didn't stop the wound from bleeding. Ichigo jumped back a bit and skidded backwards over the ground as he winced from the pain in his chest. He smelled the burned flesh, and hoped that Inoue would be able to fix it later on.

Ichigo tried to ignore the pain from his burned chest when he pushed off from the ground, and charged forward. Just before he reached the Espada Ichigo's eyes widened as his Hollow mask shattered.

Damn it.

Ulquiorra grabbed Ichigo's sword before it reached his face and thrust it backwards which caused the steel hilt to connect with Ichigo's forehead.

"Looks like you're at your limit, you can't keep those Hollow powers of yours out. Our battle ends here, Ichigo," Ulquiorra said as Ichigo staggered backwards.

Trying to blink the dizziness away Ichigo sat up and crawled to his feet. Ichigo couldn't focus himself on the Espada in front of him and before he knew it the sword of Ulquiorra slashed him in his back, and he fell forward.

Ichigo rolled to the side, and grabbed his sword, but before he could do anything at all the sky ripped open, and Ulquiorra was enveloped in a big beam of light.

"Negación," Ichigo muttered under his breath remembering the same happening to Aizen in Soul Society, and he fell backwards, and landed in strong, big arms.

---|---|---

I'm baaaack!

I've been pretty busy lately so I haven't had the time to write much. I'll try to update faster again, but I'm not making any promises!

Anyhow, I hoped you liked my latest chapter. Please tell me what your opinion on this chapter is! Is it good, or not? Did you like the action in it?

R&R!


	14. Chapter 14: A cat in mortal peril

**Disclaimer: ** I do not own Bleach or any of the characters.

**Quick announcement: **First of all I would like to apologise for my very very late update. The past few months have been quite hectic for me and I simply couldn't find the time to sit down behind my laptop and start bashing my keyboard. Now I'm getting back on track and I certainly hope everyone will like the upcoming chapter(s). I would also like to thank everyone for reading my story and all the awesome reviews I've gotten so far! With this I'd like to give both Bruuz and DarkJason a special thanks for the good feedback, help and constructive criticism they've given me on my writing. And, before I forget: a happy 2010 everyone!

**Chapter 14: A cat in mortal peril**

"How're they doing?" Lisa asked anxiously as Isshin returned from the clinic together with Yuzu and Karin. They'd been holed up in there together with Inoue for the past few hours. Yuzu looked so exhausted that Lisa was amazed that she was still standing on her feet. Karin and Isshin were extremely tired as well, but at least they still had their eyes open. Lisa quickly walked towards Yuzu and lifted the girl from her feet. The moment Yuzu felt safe arms around her she felt her eyes drooping even more and she let out an exhausted sigh as the void of sleep claimed her.

A small smile played on her lips as Lisa walked to the low couch at the centre of the living room and laid the sleeping girl to rest. It wasn't often she held little children in her arms. Truth be told, Lisa thought this had to be the first time. That was if you didn't count Ichigo, of course. Lisa turned around and saw that Isshin was leaning against the wall, pretending to be asleep. Karin narrowed her eyes at her dad's obvious attempt to get some feminine attention. Did the man seriously think that tricks like that would work? Karin sincerely doubted that any trick would work on Lisa. She was a woman whom Karin liked to describe as an evil bitch.

Karin liked her.

The first time she'd seen Lisa was when they went to the Vaizard hideout to pick up Ichigo after he'd been injured by the Espada he fought together with his dad. Ichigo had been very weak since he hadn't been awake for more than a few hours, but he still looked at Lisa with those calculating eyes of him. Those eyes showed that he didn't trust Lisa one bit and that he was afraid of the girl. Karin didn't know how she'd done it, but Lisa somehow managed to make herself feared by Ichigo in one fleeting moment when Ichigo had woken up. Karin was impressed at the time, but she hadn't had any time to talk with Lisa. She'd been too busy with hugging her big brother and acting like she hadn't been scared out of her wits for him at the same time. That was not an easy combination.

Karin suddenly remembered that Lisa had asked a question. "Oi, dad!" She said as she grabbed Isshin's earlobe and started pulling him with her towards the chair standing on the left side of the couch. "Our guest asked you a question. It's quite rude to ignore her, you know."

"Ow ow ow, why do you always have to pull so hard," he whined as he rubbed his sore earlobe. Isshin was glad he didn't wear his earrings anymore. Karin would've carelessly ripped them out ages ago. Now he thought about it, he didn't even know where his earrings were. It had been a long, long time ago when he'd worn them for the last time. He hadn't even arrived in Karakura Town, yet. Isshin supposed that the earrings had gotten either lost in time or destroyed. He hoped that he would get the chance to see them again, but he tried not to get his hopes up. Even if they were still intact, it would be an enormously tedious job to find them in such a big world. Or worlds for that matter. If they were intact he figured they had to be somewhere in Soul Society. If only he could remember where he'd lost them exactly. . .

Karin rolled with her eyes when her father seemed to be staring at nothing at all, and pushed him into his chair. He was probably very tired as well. They'd been tending the injured together with Inoue all day. Compared to her their healing abilities could only be considered less than average, but they had still been able to help her out. It was very exhausting for Inoue to heal everyone at once, so she only tended the most life-threatening wounds while the Kurosaki's healed the other less dangerous wounds. Yuzu still struggled a lot with Kidou-based healing, which was also the reason why she was so exhausted. Isshin had started giving them some lessons so they were able to heal minor wounds, but the two of them still had a long way to go before they could be useful.

Karin covered a yawn with her hand and made her way to the kitchen to make some tea. While she was waiting for the water to boil she wondered how long it would take before Inoue would be done at the clinic. If Inoue wouldn't be back soon Karin figured she would go to the clinic herself and drag the girl out. If she hadn't passed out already by then, of course.

With steaming mugs of tea and a plate full of biscuits on a tray, Karin entered the living room again. Her dad was still staring at nothing in particular with glazy eyes and didn't seem to notice there were other people in the room. What the hell was he thinking about that brought such a troubled look to his face? Whatever it was, she didn't think he'd tell her if she asked about it. When he finally saw her coming Isshin quickly covered his face up with a smile. Lisa also gave her an appreciative smile as she accepted one of the steaming mugs Karin handed over to her and she leaned back in the couch.

While Karin walked over to her dad with the last two mugs of tea, Lisa cautiously sipped from her tea, only to burn her mouth, anyway. She silently cursed under her breath as the burning sensation tingled her lips. Lisa had always wondered why tea had to be so damn hot. It wasn't like it didn't taste good if it was a little bit colder. She'd come to the conclusion that tea hated her. The thirstier she became, the hotter the tea would get.

A soft snoring sound distracted her from her thoughts. Lisa looked down and saw Yuzu lying there with her head nestled in her lap. She snuggled even closer to her as she slept on. While Karin had been getting tea and biscuits, Lisa had sat down on the couch and laid Yuzu's head in her lap. It was good to feel some comfort. Lisa hadn't talked much with anyone from Ichigo's family except Isshin. Lisa had always thought that Yuzu was just Ichigo's fearful, kind and sweet little sister who would hide behind either Karin or Ichigo whenever there was trouble. How wrong she had been. Not only had Yuzu been training with her dad a lot so she could help everyone out in the war, but she also just spend almost the entire day healing the wounded while her stamina still wasn't good enough to maintain healing spells for a long period of time. Despite that, though, she continued healing those in need until she literally couldn't even open her eyes anymore. That, in Lisa's opinion, showed real character.

When everyone had started drinking their very hot tea, Lisa couldn't contain herself any longer. Curiosity burned through her body. "So," she said, trying not to sound too eager. "How are the wounded doing?"

"They are fine," Isshin said. "As fine as they could possibly be at this time, at least. Rukia was beat up pretty badly and was in the most danger, but she's stable now. She's been lucky that Inoue had been able to patch her up a little before she got knocked out on the battlefield. Shinji has been lucky as well. All of his vital organs were avoided when he got pierced by the attack of that Espada with those weird tentacles. Yuzu and Karin tended his wounds while Inoue took care of Rukia, and I have to say they did a damn nice job. There won't be any scarring whatsoever."

Lisa, careful not to wake Yuzu up, lightly ruffled the little girl's hair. "And what about Ichigo, will he be all right?"

"Of course he'll be all right, but if it weren't for you I doubt he would've survived the ordeal."

She took a sip from her tea, now it wasn't that hot anymore. "Me?" Lisa asked perplexed. "I didn't do anything. I was stuck fighting that eight-legged freak." The memory of the fight still stung. She should've been able to kill the bastard straight away, but she let herself get distracted by Ichigo's fight. She'd been afraid he had been killed, and, in that moment of distraction, Luppi had trapped and restrained her with seven of those white tentacles. How the hell had she somehow helped Ichigo by acting so foolishly?

"It's true that you didn't help him directly during his fight with Ulquiorra, but without you he would've died before he even had a clue what was happening. Because you spend all your time training him since he's been with you and the other Vaizards he was able to fight Ulquiorra and even live to tell the tale. Without you he wouldn't have been able to dodge Ulquiorra's attacks, never mind see the little rat while he moved that quickly. Don't tell me you didn't do anything, because if it weren't for you we would've been attending a funeral right now."

"But he still got hurt," Lisa said stubbornly.

"Of course he got hurt," Isshin said patiently as if he was trying to explain something to a small child. "I would be pretty amazed if he didn't got hurt at all."

Fire flared up in Lisa's eyes at Isshin's childish voice. "If it wasn't for your cute daughter lying in my lap right now I would've sent you flying right now," she growled.

Isshin, clearly not intimidated, merely grinned. "A childish voice is all what's needed to let an important message like that sink in."

"Aren't you afraid for your own son?"

"Of course I am, more than you could imagine, but he is my son and I have faith in him. I know you're smart and strong Lisa, but don't forget that Ichigo is smart and strong as well. You have to be able to let him fight his own battles. If you don't do that it will only endanger the both of you in the heat of battle. You know what happened when you got distracted by Ichigo's fight last time, don't you, Lisa?"

Lisa hated it when someone else was right.

"I guess, you're right," she said after a pause. A sudden thought struck her as she was absent-mindedly stroking Yuzu's soft hair. What happened to the other Shinigami who were fighting?"

"Just like you they didn't seem to have any serious wounds, " Isshin said. "They were fighting the Arrancar instead of the Espada, but they still had a tough fight, though. If it weren't for the limiters whom were released early I think they'd be lying next to Rukia right now."

"Their limiters got released early?"

"Yes, I'm not sure why, though. There's no way Soul Society would break the usual protocol, they always obey every single rule there is to follow," Isshin said bitterly. "Of course it's possible that Urahara is behind it; that man is craftier than he looks."

Lisa grinned, that sounded like Urahara Kisuke all right.

When the eyes of Isshin and Karin started drooping, Lisa spoke up again. "I think it's for the best if you go to bed Isshin, and you as well Karin. I'll go to the clinic and see how Inoue and the others are doing before I head home."

"Yes, you're probably right." Isshin said and he Karin stood up. "You can stay here as well if you'd like, Lisa. Ichigo's room is free. I know you'll be pretty lonely without him there, but it'll have to do," he added with a smirk thinking he got her on a tight spot. Isshin obviously didn't know Lisa well enough.

"True enough, Isshin, but I think I'll manage one night without your son. If I somehow can't I'll just go to the clinic, and lay in bed there with him."

Without waiting for a reply, Lisa scooped Yuzu up in her arms and followed Karin to the girls room, leaving a spluttering Isshin alone in the living room.

"That old man never learns," Karin said as they moved upstairs. "He keeps doing stuff like that all the time, I've become pretty much immune to his stupid jokes by now."

"Yeah, I know what you mean, my previous captain was just like him, but I got him under my control in the end, though."

"You've got to teach me that."

An explosion of red and pink burned in her eyes as Lisa entered the girl's room. The left side was pink and organised. Stuffed animals were neatly stacked on top of the wooden wardrobe that held the clothes of both Yuzu and Karin. The right side of the room was completely the opposite. It wasn't very girlish. it was very red and chaotic with clothes, schoolbooks a leather football and waste scattered across the floor. "I don't think I have to ask which side is yours, Karin," Lisa said with a satisfied smile. She laid the sleeping Yuzu on the bed and tucked her in before walking towards the door again.

"Good night, Lisa."

"Good night."

Lisa left the room and went down the stairs. She walked into the kitchen, made some tea for Inoue and herself and walked to the Kurosaki clinic. Lisa hoped Inoue hadn't completely exhausted herself like Yuzu had. If something happened to any of the patients it would be nearly impossible to wake her up and Lisa doubted she would be very useful to them since she wasn't very good at healing. She could do a few minor spells and while she had been training with Ichigo she had learned everything there was to learn about bandaging minor wounds, but that was it.

Entering the clinic, Lisa looked from her left to the right in the dimly lit room. She could spot Ichigo, Shinji, Rukia and another boy she didn't know lying in the beds standing against the white wall. She walked over to them and saw Inoue sitting in a chair, dozing off with her head on Rukia's bed. Inoue jerked awake when Lisa set the tray down on the floor and sat down next to her on a vacant chair.

"I'm sorry, Lisa, I didn't hear you come in."

"That's all right, I'd be pretty tired too if I spent all this time healing their wounds," Lisa said. She grabbed the tea mugs from the tray and handed one over to Inoue, who eagerly accepted it. When she took a sip her face faltered a bit, though.

"The tea is cold."

Lisa's eyebrows drew together in a scowl. "No it's not."

"Yes it is," Inoue said uncertainly, not knowing how Lisa would react.

"Just because the tea isn't so freaking hot that it burns right through your mouth doesn't mean it's cold."

Inoue wanted to argue, but, upon seeing the expression hovering over Lisa's face, she decided against it. That girl could be downright scary at times. "Right," Inoue said and she sipped from her cold tea as she glanced over at Ichigo lying at the other side of the room. How he had survived all those training sessions with Lisa without being seriously wounded apart from a shattered hand, Inoue couldn't fathom. She guessed that Lisa also had a kind side. Even Rukia liked Lisa a lot. Rukia understood more about the situation of the Vaizards than Inoue did, so maybe Lisa had a reason to be a little distrusting and harsh towards outsiders. Inoue didn't know. If they had a reason to act like that or not didn't matter to Inoue, though. Lisa and the other Vaizards made Ichigo happy and that was the most important thing for Inoue. She wanted her friends to be happy. And what better friend could you have than one who would train with you to get stronger so you could protect each other and everyone else you held close to your heart together?

Yes, without a doubt Lisa and Ichigo needed each other in this war. Not just for that, though. They'd need each other when everything was over as well. The fact that both Lisa and Ichigo seemed to ignore that part of their friendship was maddening. How could they be so blind for such obvious facts? Inoue had to make sure they would come to realise that they couldn't live without each other before it was too late. She still wanted to visit their beautiful children in their big house and, when the children got older, she wanted to be the one where they would run off to when they had enough of their parents and needed some space.

Inoue drank the rest of her tea and was pleased to notice that it wasn't as cold as she'd thought. She guessed that Lisa had a point about the tea not having to be so damn hot. If you thought about it she was right. It wasn't necessary for tea to be so hot that you would have to wait at least five minutes before you could start drinking it.

"Thanks for the tea, Lisa," Inoue said. "You were right. Tea shouldn't be too hot if you want to drink it."

Lisa flashed her a satisfied smile. "I told you so."

"How are Yuzu and Karin doing? They seemed to be pretty exhausted when they left," Inoue asked.

"They're all right. Yuzu fell asleep right away, so I laid her on the couch, but Karin was able to hide her sleep for quite some time afterwards. She thought I didn't notice, but it was so obvious."

Inoue laughed.

Lisa glanced around the room to see if everyone was still asleep before addressing Inoue again. They'd been talking pretty loudly. "Is there anything I can do to help you right now?"

"No, that's not necessary. When I've rested for a few hours I could help them more, but there isn't anything we can do for them right now," Inoue replied. "Are you going back to the Vaizards, or will you stay here as well?"

"I can stay here if you don't mind."

"I'd like that," Inoue said sincerely.

---|---

Yoruichi left the 12th squad's Research and Development Institute in high spirits. Together with Kurotsuchi Mayuri she'd been watching the big crimson dots on the radar, which indicated the location of the Espada and Arrancar in Karakura Town. One by one the smaller dots, which indicated the Arrancar on the radar, grew fainter and fainter until they completely vanished from sight. They'd obviously been beaten by the Shinigami protecting the town. The bigger dots, whom belonged to the Espada, didn't fade away, but disappeared all at once which meant that they had left Karakura town and had gone to Hueco Mundo. Yoruichi hadn't expected that the dots would fade away, but it would've been a big advantage for the Shinigami if they had defeated the three Espada. She didn't know how the people who fought them were doing, but if they forced three Espada to leave at once there shouldn't be too many casualties.

Looking up, Yoruichi noticed how long she'd been goggling at crimson dots on a radar. The sky was pitch-black and, apart from the regular patrols, there was no one to be seen on the streets outside the 12th squad's Research and Development Institute. Yoruichi guessed she had spent more than six hours inside the building. She didn't know when Urahara expected her to come home, but she decided to stay in Soul Society for at least a little while longer. She had spent her younger years here after all and, besides that, she thought it wouldn't hurt to see what the Captain-Commander and the other Captains were up to.

Walking through a small alleyway, Yoruichi noticed something was off. She couldn't tell what is was exactly, but she had the feeling she was being followed. She didn't sense anyone close enough to be a threat, though. After standing still for a few moments she decided that it was nothing to worry about. It was probably the sleep getting to her. After looking around her once more she moved on. There were still some things she needed to do, but it would be better if she did that after a good night's sleep. It wouldn't do to be stalking Captain-level Shinigami while being as sleepy as she was right now. All of the Captains would most likely be asleep already, anyway.

Yoruichi jumped when a sudden noise distracted her. She quickly moved towards the source of the sound, only to discover it was a stray cat who had knocked over a flowerpot standing on a window-sill. Tiny pieces of the clay pot were scattered all over the floor. The lonely flower who had been inside the pot was completely ruined. Yoruichi didn't know what was happening to her. She was seeing things everywhere. An imaginary shadow was hunting her and she even got frightened by a clay pot.

After she anxiously looked over her shoulder for the fifth time Yoruichi finally got moving again. She quickly walked past the countless buildings encircling the 9th squad barracks and turned left. When she reached the lake where she used to spend a lot of her time when she was a Captain Yoruichi sat down and took a few deep breaths.

Yoruichi knew she was getting paranoid. Why the hell was she seeing enemies? She was all alone in the middle of the night, there was nothing she had to worry about, but still, she had an uneasy feeling in the pit of her stomach that just wouldn't go away. Yoruichi thought about her time as the commander of the Cover Ops. She had fought many battles and had been in countless perilous situations back then, but never had she felt danger looming over her like this. She knew it had to be somewhere but she just couldn't spot it. Yoruichi hated this uncertainty.

A sudden flash of light caught her attention, but she was too slow to react. A hard object impacted with her and they rolled over the grass. Burning got steel was being pressed against her throat while she struggled to get out of the arms restraining her. She halted her attempts of freedom when she heard a familiar whispering into her ear.

"Weren't you the one who told me to never let down my guard, Yoruichi?"

Yoruichi grinned in response and turned her head and looked into Tatsuki's brown eyes. In one swift movement she freed herself from Tatsuki's grasp and pinned the girl to the ground. Yoruichi held her wrists down on the ground above her head and sat down on her stomach. "Why, yes, I believe it was me who told you that," she said as she leaned forward and looked at the unsettling grin on Tatsuki's face. "And by the looks of it, it seems I've been right in telling you that. As you can see you're the one lying on the ground and I'm in control even though you had the element of surprise."

"Who gave you the idea you were in control?" Tatsuki replied with her grin still present on her face. She took a deep breath, as if preparing to dive into the storming sea, and rocked her body backwards. She wrapped both of her legs around Yoruichi's face and locked them underneath her chin. When she was certain that there was no way Yoruichi could escape from her grasp without releasing at least one of her arms, she tightened her muscles and, with a mighty roar, she rammed her legs down, pulling Yoruichi off of her in the process. Yoruichi gasped for air as she hit the ground and the wind was forced from her lungs. Her hand instantly reached for her neck and clawed at Tatsuki's tightened feet and ankles. She wasn't being strangled, but it was very hard for her to get a deep breath. She wanted to kick Tatsuki in her face with her feet, but they were immediately restrained and rendered useless by Tatsuki.

By the time Tatsuki had managed to get Yoruichi completely under her control both women were panting from the battle. Sweat drops glistered on her forehead as Tatsuki started talking again. "It looks to me you let your guard again twice in a row, Yoruichi, you ought to be more careful. If you keep fighting this recklessly you might end up in a few nasty predicaments sooner or later." When she didn't hear a response she loosened her legs around Yoruichi's throat a bit. The woman drew a few choking breaths and stopped struggling. "Seriously, Tatsuki, were you trying to choke me?" She said. "I could hardly breath and you kept closing my throat tighter and tighter."

Tatsuki released her hold on Yoruichi and got up. "Stop whining, missus cat, you ought to be glad I was so happy to see you. I bet no one in the living world would give you a special treatment like this when you returned."

Yoruichi rolled her eyes. "I guess not, but I'd appreciate it if you would just attack me straight away. It's annoying if you keep sneaking around and I don't know where the threat is coming from. It was creeping me out when I noticed someone following me. I really couldn't tell who it was and until you hit me I couldn't even tell your location either."

"So you did notice me then, I already was afraid you had spotted me. When I was on my way here I got distracted and lost my concentration for a moment."

Yoruichi, still rubbing her sore throat, looked at Tatsuki clothing. She was covered in black clothes from her neck to her toes. The headband she'd been wearing just under her hairline had come loose in the quick, but intense struggle. When Tatsuki caught her looking at it she quickly readjusted the headband and tight a knot in it behind her head. There seemed to be something written on it, but in the darkness she couldn't tell what it was. Yoruichi walked behind Tatsuki's back and searched the ground for any piece of clothing that the slim girl might've discarded before launching herself into the offensive. When she didn't find anything Yoruichi narrowed her eyes, deep in thought.

"Something wrong, Yoruichi? Or did I just hurt you too much?" Tatsuki asked smugly.

"No, it's nothing, I just wondered where you had left your cloak."

"Cloak? I ain't got no cloak, Yoruichi. I've never been one for fashion, and a cloak only gets in the way while fighting, anyway."

"No cloak?" Yoruichi asked perplexed. "Are you sure you weren't wearing the cloak that completely hides your Reiatsu? I'm sure Mayuri has a few of those."

"Of course, I think I'd remember it if I had been wearing some kind of cloak. And I didn't hide my Reiatsu completely, you just said you sensed me a while back."

"It wasn't that I sensed you back there, I just knew someone was following me, but I couldn't sense anyone, that was what worried me so much." Yoruichi wiped the sweat from her brow before she continued talking. "Tatsuki, tell me. How did you hide your Reiatsu if you didn't use the cloak?"

"It's really easy. All you have to do is concentrate on your own Reiatsu and after a few moments everyone around will notice that your Reiatsu is gradually fading away until they can't even feel it while they're looking you right in the eyes."

Yoruichi's eyes widened at this piece of information. Could it be true? Was she really able to completely hide her Reiatsu without using anything but her own concentration? Yoruichi didn't think so, there had to be some kind of trick. "Show it to me. Clasp you hands behind you head and do it again. I know many people who can partially hide their Reiatsu, me being one of them, but I've never heard about anyone who could completely hide it."

Tatsuki merely rolled with her eyes and did just that. With her hands clasped behind her head she began concentrating on her own Reiatsu. She felt the coils of Reiatsu that surrounded her body quickly retreating. It crept to her inner core. Slowly her Reiatsu started to gather there and formed an orb, which grew bigger and bigger as more Reiatsu retracted into her body. When she was sure all of her Reiatsu was where it had to be she envisioned an invisible wall around it in her mind's eye to keep it in place. It always felt exhilarating when she locked her own Reiatsu inside of her. This way she somehow felt more connected to her Zanpakutou. They could feel each other more evidently than they used to feel each other. Their minds were linked and they both experienced the exact same thing. They shared every breath, every movement. No emotion could be hidden from her Zanpakutou. They were one.

When Tatsuki opened her eyes she noticed she had closed them at one point or another. She always did when she became one with her Zanpakutou, it was the only weakness it had. There was a lot of concentration needed to lock her Zanpakutou's spirit inside her own soul. At the moment she was establishing the link she was most vulnerable. She lost sight of the world around her for a few moments until all of her Reiatsu was securely locked inside of her. After that was done, though, she could maintain it without too much effort. She could move talk and fight without losing it, but it drained her from her energy. That was the reason why she didn't use it too often if it wasn't needed. It didn't do to sap her from all of her strength before the battle had even begun.

Tatsuki remembered the first time she'd done this ritual. She had been sitting in her quarters that came with her new position among the Covert Ops when she had noticed she could manipulate her own Reiatsu to a certain extent. She kept toying with it trying to figure out if it could be useful to her in some way. No matter how hard she tried she couldn't get it to work for her in any offensive way. In the end she simply decided to try some other things out and eventually she ended up having it locked inside of her. She wanted to figure out what she could do with it, so she decided to maintain the same feeling for as long as she could. When Soifon found her at the end of the day she'd told Tatsuki that she hadn't been able to sense her at all the past few hours. Tatsuki had collapsed right after those words had left Soifon's mouth. Soifon had gotten scared and didn't know what had happened to her so she'd brought Tatsuki to the 4th squad's infirmary.

It had taken Tatsuki a while to recover from her exhaustion, but from that moment on she'd been increasing her stamina every day. She still couldn't maintain the mind-link as she'd like to call it very long, but she was steadily improving. She would use it to sneak up on other members from the Covert Ops and Soifon had been checking the area around her more often when she knew Tatsuki was using the link. Tatsuki had even caught a few perpetrators in Soul society off-guard and had been able to restrain them until Soifon came to her to make sure they were punished for their crimes.

Yoruichi was staring at Tatsuki in awe. She had been right. She had still been sceptical towards Tatsuki's big words, but as soon as the girl had clasped her hands behind her back and closed her eyes her Reiatsu began fluctuating like a candlelight struggling against a harsh wind before her Reiatsu started to gently seep away until there was nothing left of it. Tatsuki seemed completely lost in it, but after a short while she opened her eyes, who illuminated a green light, and maintained the link without much effort whatsoever. Yoruichi didn't know why her eyes had changed, but she thought it had something to do with Tatsuki's Reiatsu.

"That is one hell of an awesome skill, Tatsuki," Yoruichi said at last.

"It is, isn't it?" Came the reply. "You should try to do it as well, you might be able to do it, but I think it's time to head back now, though. Soifon must be wondering what's taking me so long and you look like you could really use some sleep."

Yoruichi nodded at her and followed her to the Covert Ops headquarters.

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A good twenty minutes later they finally arrived at the entrance of the Covert Ops headquarters. During that time Yoruichi had filled Tatsuki in about all the recent events that had happened in the real world. She told her about Inoue who had gone to train together with Ichigo and the other Vaizard, and how Rukia had been kidnapped into the Kurosaki family. Tatsuki had laughed that part, but she fell silent at what came next. The attack on Karakura Town that very morning. Yoruichi told her everything she'd been told by Urahara, and what else she had been able to deduce together with Mayuri. There were still a lot of things she didn't know about the attack, but she was able to tell Tatsuki a few things she'd concluded while watching the radar. When Tatsuki asked how the people in Karakura Town were doing Yoruichi said that there was no certainty about any casualties that Ichigo and his friends might've had. She knew that they'd beaten the weaker Arrancar and had driven the Espada away. If they had accomplished that much, the amount of casualties should be limited, if any at all.

When they entered the grounds behind the two massive gates and they met a few Covert Ops members she seemed to cheer up a little again. Yoruichi smiled at her back when she followed the girl further through the building that had once belonged to herself. Tatsuki seemed to be getting pretty familiar with everyone around here already. The people in the Covert Ops were mostly men, but Tatsuki didn't seem to mind that at all. The men were also okay with it, they'd gotten pretty used to woman overpowering them in battle already, so one more didn't matter, really.

The sound of their sandals slapping the cold stone beneath their feet vibrated throughout the silent halls as they moved on. They neared the quarters of Soifon and saw a few more people clad in black clothes whom were stationed there to protect Soifon. It wasn't that Soifon really needed the protection, though. The two men were mostly there to symbolize Soifon's position. The two guards standing on either side of the doorway bowed to the two woman in respect and straightened their back afterwards as they passed them. Yoruichi really didn't know if their bows were meant for either her or Tatsuki, so she simply followed Tatsuki's example and gave them a civil nod. Yoruichi wondered just how much respect Tatsuki had gotten from the men in the Covert Ops in such a small period of time. She hadn't thought they would accept the girl so easily in their midst, but nevertheless she was happy for Tatsuki. She both needed and deserved the attention. Now she thought about it Yoruichi noticed that Tatsuki carried herself with more pride and self-confidence than she had done when she started her training here in Soul Society. Yoruichi was curious for the reason, but when she saw Soifon seated in a big chair in front of them she decided to let the matter rest for a little while.

"Oi, Soifon!" Yoruichi said, displaying her usual grin on her face.

Soifon, who had been dozing off, jerked awake and blinked the sleep from her eyes. "What took you so long, Tatsuki," she said heatedly. "I've been waiting for ages. I almost went after you to see what was keeping you!"

"That's her fault," Tatsuki said pointing at the woman standing next to her. "She was having fun at Mayuri's place, so I decided to wait and let her finish up before I kidnapped her."

"Mayuri? What were you doing there, Yoruichi?" Soifon asked frowning.

"I needed his help and I had to blackmail him to get it. It took quite some time before everything was finished there, though." Yoruichi glanced over at Tatsuki. "I was just on my way here when your student caught me by surprise and almost choked me to death before she let me go again."

"What was it exactly you needed from Mayuri?" Soifon asked, ignoring the second part of Yoruichi's explanation as if it was a little inconvenience that happened daily around here. Somehow, Yoruichi thought that that was indeed the case.

"We had a lot of trouble in the Real World this morning. Some Arrancar and Espada decided to attack Karakura Town and─"

"What?! Espada in Karakura Town!" Soifon interrupted.

Yoruichi waited until Soifon was silent again before she continued. "As I said Karakura Town got attacked this morning, so I had to go to Mayuri and make him break the standard protocol. Luckily I had some blackmail material so he quickly gave permission to release the limiters on our Captains and Vice-Captains in the Real World. Afterwards we watched on his radar how the battle went. We don't know any details, but I think it's safe to assume that the Espada got driven back and the lower Arrancar got killed. I'm not sure on any casualties on our side, but there shouldn't be too many. I believe that the Shinigami from Soul Society got some help from Isshin and maybe even from a few Vaizards, but I wouldn't bet on that, considering how they were treated by Soul Society before they got exiled."

"Isshin?" Tatsuki asked, joining the conversation. "You don't mean Ichigo's dad, right?"

"That's the one."

"Is Ichigo's father also a Shinigami?" Soifon asked. She'd never heard of the man before.

"Yes he is, he lived in Soul Society a long time ago. It was before your time, Soifon."

"You're fucking with me aren't you, Yoruichi?" Tatsuki grumbled. "There's no way in hell that that goof of a man could possibly be a Shinigami, not to mention a Shinigami who can fight Espada on an equal level."

"Nevertheless, he is the one. How do you suppose Ichigo got his abnormal high spiritual power in the first place? There's no way a normal human being could have that much spiritual powers without being exposed to it, and since there haven't been people in Karakura Town with a lot of spiritual powers in the past few years there's only one man he could've gotten it from. His father."

"He could've gotten it from the owner of that candy shop, Urahara. From what Soifon told me he used to be a Captain."

"It's true that he has been in Karakura Town for a long time, but he was inside a gigai that suppressed his spiritual powers, just as Isshin for that matter, so the only way Ichigo could've gotten his powers is via birth."

Tatsuki scowled. She simply didn't want to believe it. Isshin a powerful Shinigami? No way. Period. "I won't believe it until I see him with my own eyes."

"Believe it or not, the fact remains that Ichigo got his powers from his father."

"What was it you said about those Vaizards by the way?" Tatsuki suddenly asked. "You've mentioned them once before when I first got here, but you didn't tell me much about them. The only thing I know is that you and Urahara helped them because they were sentenced to be executed and, in doing so, all of you were forced to leave. I'd like to know more about them, especially since Ichigo is one of them now. What happened to them in Soul Society before they got sentenced to death? And you mentioned something about their inner Hollow, what's the matter with that?"

Yoruichi smirked at Tatsuki's obvious attempt to change the subject. Not that she really cared, though. She liked the Vaizards, and it was very useful for Tatsuki to know about them before encountering them as well. It could save a lot of trouble. "I think it could be very useful if I told the two of you about the Vaizards living in Karakura Town, but this doesn't seem the right place to do it. Let's go to your quarters, Tatsuki, I haven't seen those yet."

Tatsuki nodded and moved towards the door where they'd come from. When Tatsuki disappeared from sight Yoruichi held Soifon back for a moment and leaned closer so she could whisper in her ear. "I'd like to know what Tatsuki has done to earn the amount of respect she has from the members of the Covert Ops and even your own personal guards."

Soifon flashed her former tutor a wicked grin. "Later."

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**Author's note **

And there's chapter 14! It's been a while since my last update, but my future updates should be a lot more often, if irregularly, depending on how much time I have. I would also like to add that reviews are much appreciated! They inspire me with new ideas and they motivate me to write faster *hint hint* I'm very curious as to what everyone thinks about the little twist I've done with Tatsuki.

That was that, I hope everyone liked this chapter. Catch you next update!

- Yonda


	15. Chapter 15: Resolve

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Bleach or any of the characters.

**Bruuz: **_This has to be the longest review I've gotten so far. Thanks a bunch for the awesome feedback! Now to respond to your criticism, pointers and tips!_

_It is true that I've pictured Isshin a little more serious than he might've been, but I figured that after being up for so long healing everyone and fighting the Espada on top of that pretty much exhausted him from his nearly endless energy. Secondly, I'm glad that you liked the scene with Tatsuki. I worked really hard on it and it's good to know it falls in good graces with the majority of my readers. You are right that Yoruichi's reaction might not have been completely in character. My choice of words was a little off, but I do hope you got the message I was trying to send. _

_Ah, the character interaction. I love those! Especially the ones who haven't gotten much attention in the Manga. I tried to give them a bigger role in my fanfic, and I'm glad you liked that. Especially since Lisa doesn't have a big role made this story so challenging for me. In some situation it's very clear how she would react in the Manga, but it's fun to think and try to figure out what she would've done in certain situations._

**DarkJason: **Don't shower me with love! I'll get spoiled. Hehe. No, I really love your reviews. And I'm glad Tatsuki came out well, but just as I told Bruuz, you are right about Yoruichi acting a little out of character, but I hope it wasn't too bothersome. And I certainly haven't forgotten about Ichigo's fight with Hiyori! You'll read more about it in this chapter.

**Chapter 15: Resolve**

Tatsuki leaned back against the wall as she processed everything that Yoruichi had just told her in her mind. It seemed surreal that these things had happened in Soul Society. Why would they do such a thing to the Vaizards? And who would've thought that the owner of the candy shop in Karakura Town had gone to such lengths to save them, only to be targeted by Soul Society himself which forced him to flee and hide in Karakura Town.

A groan escaped from her mouth as Tatsuki leaned forward and laid her head in her arms. It was unfair. If Ichigo or any of her other friends had been Hollowfied by Aizen, she wouldn't have listened to those old goats in Central 46. They could sod off and kill each other off as far as she was concerned. Central 46 couldn't just decide on the fates of their lives as they saw fit, and order the Vaizards to be executed. She would've ignored their orders and help her friends in any way she could. Just like Ichigo would've done for her if she would find herself in that position.

She wondered how Ichigo was doing right now, though. The last thing she'd heard about him was that he somehow had developed an inner Hollow just like the Vaizards. He went to them to learn how to keep his inner Hollow under control and they were now teaching him how to fight with it. It had been a long time since she'd seen the crazy orange-haired boy and all her other friends. She missed them and wanted to know how they were doing. Even Rukia wasn't in Soul Society anymore. She'd gone back to the Real World some time ago. Tatsuki was glad that she'd gone to the promotion party so she could talk with Rukia about Ichigo before she'd left, though. His life was still mostly a mystery to her, but at least she had been able to hear a few things about him. Rukia had told her how he had wounded the Hollow that had killed his mother, and how he had saved Rukia from her death sentence. That was really something that Ichigo would do. Chasing after some girl he'd only just met and fight his way through Soul Society to get to her.

Tatsuki looked at Yoruichi, who was still scanning the room as she had been doing since she had finished her story about the Vaizards, and smirked. The look on Yoruichi's face when Tatsuki showed her her room had been priceless. She hadn't been suspecting that Tatsuki would be getting Soifon's old job so quickly.

It had been a few days after Yoruichi had gone back to the Real World again. . .

_[Flashback]_

"_Come with me, Tatsuki," Soifon said, interrupting Tatsuki's morning exercises. "I need your help with something."_

_Tatsuki looked up at her mentor. What could she possibly need her help for? Even though she was curious, Tatsuki decided not to ask about Soifon's request, and silently followed her out of the training grounds. She was glad that Soifon had come to her instead of someone else in the Covert Ops. She really liked Soifon and was pleased to notice that her accomplishments were noted by Soifon. Even during their private trainings Soifon had told her that she was doing a very good job countless of times. She smiled at the memory of her previous training. She'd successfully used her mind-link to throw Soifon of her senses, and catch her by surprise. It had been the first time she'd used that skill in battle and it had proved to be very useful indeed._

_Finally unable to keep her curiosity under control, Tatsuki broke the silence hanging between the two women. "So, where are you taking me, Commander?" She asked. Even though she wasn't in the 2__nd__ squad, Tatsuki used to call Soifon her Captain in the past, anyway. But now she had joined the Covert Ops she had a real title she could use to address Soifon._

"_How many times have I told you to just call me by my name?" Soifon asked as she glanced over her shoulder to see Tatsuki grinning at her. Soifon merely sighed in response. "Annoying brat. I would rather have cut off my own tongue than to let Yoruichi see a grin like that on my face when she was still my Commander. Anyway, you'll see where we're going to soon enough. Keep quiet until then and don't let me see you grinning like that again." _

_Tatsuki rolled with her eyes, but she kept quiet the rest of the way._

_When they'd reached the gates leading to Eastern Rukongai, Tatsuki really had to bite her tongue to keep from talking. She hadn't been in Rukongai for quite some time. Since she had gotten taken away from there by Soifon she hadn't even seen the place even once._

_The two walked through the gates in silence. Tatsuki noticed that this was the area of Rukongai where she'd spend most of her time before Soifon had taken her home. She wondered yet again what it was she needed to do here. Tatsuki didn't think Soifon would really need her help here, she was probably scheming something. _

"_This will do," Soifon said when they reached an abandoned building standing apart from the main road._

"_What're we doing here?" Tatsuki asked once they were inside. "This better be important, Soifon, I don't like this place one bit. Especially since some of the brutes that live here steal food from defenseless children."_

"_You didn't look that defenseless to me when I first met you here," Soifon reasoned. _

"_I wasn't implying that," Tatsuki said scowling. She couldn't help it that most people around here were over a hundred years old. "I meant the little kids I met here with higher than average spiritual energy who hunted for food all day. Whenever they got their hands on something edible they got robbed by the same guys who tried to steal my food when you found me."_

_Soifon looked at her with raised eyebrows. She hadn't known those guys had been stealing food from the children here. "Were those children friends of yours?"_

"_No. I just watched them and I would sometimes slip them some food, but I never really talked to them."_

_Soifon nodded at her. "Then I think I've got the right person for this job, because stealing hasn't been the only thing those guys have been doing in Rukongai. My scouts have been able to catch some rumors about those two men and have concluded that they have the potential to become a threat to Soul Society. They've been gathering men and are trying to start a rebellion here in order to overthrow the higher-ups in Soul Society, and rule it by themselves." Soifon rolled with her eyes. This wasn't the first time a few rebellious men tried to start a revolt in Rukongai. The two in question had only gathered a few men so far, but it could be troublesome if they were left alone. Their ideas would inspire more and more people to start revolting against Soul Society and sooner or later they would try to break down the gates. _

"_Two men?" Tatsuki asked perplexed. "I thought there were three of them." _

"_You mean you don't remember?" Soifon replied surprised. "When they attacked you you fractured the skull of one of those guys. He died instantly. Yamamoto had sent some people from the 4__th__ squad over there when I told him about the incident. One of the guys ran away, but the other two were still there when help had arrived. The one with the skull fracture was dead, but they'd been able to heal the other one who only had a broken jaw."_

_Tatsuki didn't know what to think of it. Apparently she had killed a man. Apparently she hadn't had any trouble with it. "Oh. . . right, I didn't know," she responded after an awkward silence._

"_Don't worry about it too much, Tatsuki. He deserved what you did to him, just like those other two guys who are somewhere in Eastern Rukongai right know. To take a life, especially when it's your first one, is always hard, but you have to remember that there is a war drawing near. Killing will be unavoidable and you need to prepare to take lives. If you hesitate it could be you who's life will be taken."_

_Tatsuki's eyes hardened and she nodded at Soifon. "I know. I will do what I can to help, and I'll gladly hunt those two bastards."_

"_That's more like it." Soifon slapped her on the back before she continued explaining all the details of her plan._

_Tatsuki listened carefully and asked for her to repeat certain things if she wasn't sure what Soifon meant. Just when she was about to leave to accomplish her mission, Soifon held her back by her arm._

"_This is not an extremely dangerous mission, Tatsuki, but I still want you to be very careful. Even the best in the Covert Ops have died on easy missions like this one by making a stupid mistake. Don't let that happen to you. Fight without mercy and don't let their smart talk distract you from your goal." Soifon proceeded by knotting a headband behind Tatsuki's head and started to walk away. Just when she reached the doorway she turned back once more. "If your mission is successful I'll let you take my old job."_

"_And what might that be?" Tatsuki asked while she idly touched her headband with her left hand._

"_The bodyguard of the Covert Ops Commander."_

_Tatsuki smirked. "I didn't knew you thought so little of your own fighting skills, Soifon. If you needed my protection you could just have said so, you know." Without giving Soifon the chance to react Tatsuki bolted from the room, eager to start her mission._

"_Stupid girl," Soifon muttered to herself, "this is supposed to be an honor." As she walked out of the building Soifon couldn't stop a big grin forming on her lips. She'd known that Tatsuki would react like this and she wouldn't have it any other way. She was perfect for the job. The way she reacted to the promotion proved that. By acting so casually Tatsuki told Soifon that she would die three times over before she let any harm come to her, or any of her other friends for that matter._

[End flashback]

Her mission had indeed been very easy. While using her mind-link Tatsuki had been able to sneak up on the two guys and the few friends they had gathered so far. Their plans had mostly been smart talk. Even the men they'd gathered had posed more of a threat than them. They had improved since Tatsuki had fought them last time, but with her heavy training they were no match for her. They might've been if they had gathered more men, though.

The looks on their faces had been very amusing. When they recognized her they'd been very uncomfortable. The last time they'd met things hadn't ended good for them. Just like this time. After the little fight Tatsuki had returned to Soifon's quarters and, just as she'd promised her, she'd been promoted to her personal bodyguard. The entire Covert Ops had been surprised to say the least. The girl had only recently joined them and she had already been promoted to such a high rank. The current Vice-captain of the 2nd squad, Marechiyo Omaeda hadn't even earned half of the respect Tatsuki had gotten from the men in the Covert Ops in all his years of service. Not that he had gotten much for that matter. His fighting style was just terrible. It was cheap and dirty.

"You can close your mouth now, Yoruichi," Tatsuki told the woman who was still goggling at her surroundings.

She grinned. "I'm sorry _Missus Bodyguard _I was just checking out your new quarters. It's been a while since I've seen this place. The last time was when I─"

"Yes, it's amazing isn't it?" Soifon hastily interrupted.

Tatsuki looked at a flustered Soifon in surprise. This had to be the first time she saw Soifon acting a little uncomfortable. She definitely wanted to know what that was all about, but she decided to save that question for later.

Yoruichi gave Soifon a knowing wink, but let the matter rest. "Yes, it is, Soifon." Yoruichi let out a big yawn. It was getting light again and she really needed some sleep. She'd been up for ages. "Tatsuki," she said with her eyes already closed.

"Yes?"

"Please promise me one thing. Don't tell Ichigo anything about the things you've done here without me being there. I would rather die than miss something like that."

Tatsuki grinned wickedly. "'Deal."

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"Wake up, little Hollow!" A voice near his head called out. Ichigo's eyes fluttered open as the unexpected voice roused him from his sleep, but he immediately closed them again as the light from the sun, coming through the window, blinded his vision. He carefully blinked a few times until he got used to the light and looked up to see who'd awakened him. Mere inches from his face were the eyes of Lisa. Ichigo startled and knocked his head against hers in the process.

"Why the hell did you do that!" He said angrily as he rubbed his forehead. "Can't you ever wake me up without scaring the crap out of me?"

"Why, but that wouldn't be any fun, would it now, Ichigo?" She said grinning at the boy's antics. "But I have to say your head is quite hard. If you're not careful with it you might end up hurting me in my attempts to wake you."

"Serves you right," he said scowling at her. Ichigo looked around the room and noticed he wasn't lying in his own bed at the Vaizards hideout, but in the Kurosaki clinic. Then the images of the fight he'd had with Luppi and Ulquiorra sprang to his mind. He remember how Rukia had got hurt very badly before Lisa came to help them out. "What happened to the others? Are they all right?" He asked anxiously.

"Yes, yes, they're all right, don't worry," Lisa replied. "Shinji has already gone back to the Vaizards this morning and that other boy, Sado I think they called him, has left as well. Rukia is in the living room together with the rest of your family and Inoue is sleeping in your room."

"Why is Inoue sleeping in my room?" Ichigo asked perplexed. He looked around once more and saw that, apart from his bed, all the other beds were free. Inoue could've slept in one of these beds.

"Yeah, she's been healing everyone day and night since the battle two days ago with very little sleep and is pretty exhausted right now. I told her to get some sleep, but she thought it inappropriate to sleep in the same room as you." Lisa rolled with her eyes. "She went to your room and insisted I stay here in case you needed something. Luckily I didn't have any trouble with sleeping in the same room as you, it's a shame you were sleeping, though," she added with a wink.

"Shut it you."

"You've got quite some cheek, saying stuff like that to me. Have you forgotten, Ichigo?"

Ichigo eyed her suspiciously. "Forgotten what?"

"What? Our enjoyable little bet of course! And I have to say you tried very hard to get out of it, but I still have a few days left to let you do everything I want you to do."

Ichigo swallowed heavily. Oh crap. He had completely forgotten about their bet a few days earlier. He had been training together with Lisa to combine his speed with fighting. As always there was a price to be paid if he didn't succeed in his training. This time the price was ridiculously high, but what choice did he have? He couldn't do anything to change the bet so he had gone along with it. This time it hadn't looked very difficult, though. All he had to do was touch Lisa with his fist at least once in six hours time. If he succeeded Lisa would be forced to be his personal slave for the rest of the day. If he didn't, however, he would be forced to do everything she told him to do in the next seven days.

Ichigo had obviously lost. Lisa knew his limits, she would never make a bet she couldn't win. Ichigo knew that, still she'd lured him into believing he could somehow win. How she did it he didn't know, but the fact remained that he was bound by her will for the next few days. He clearly remembered the first evening she'd started ordering him around. He'd had to carry a big chair down, give her a foot rub and he'd even had to carry her to her room, again. That girl really was a sadist, or just plain lazy. Ichigo couldn't decide which of the two it was, probably a little bit of both. When they had arrived at her room he'd laid her in her bed and wanted to sneak out straight away, but Lisa hadn't been done with him. After she reminded him that he had to do everything she told him to do he had undressed her, tucked her in and after a fleeting goodnight kiss on her cheek he'd bolted from the room.

"No, I haven't forgotten our bet. . . Milady," Ichigo said, adding the nickname she'd forced him to use while addressing her.

"That's more like it. If you behave today I might consider setting you free earlier and train you for your battle with Hiyori, but don't you forget you still owe me one after all of this is done."

"Oh, right," Ichigo said as he remembered the shower-incident that had happened that same day. "I won't disappoint you, Milady."

"Good, as you probably know, I don't like to lose bets, so you better beat Hiyori when the time comes," she said as she threw his clothes on his bed. "Now, get dressed and I'll meet you in the living room." Lisa patted his head like he was a faithful dog and walked away.

He shook his head as she disappeared behind the door. He really couldn't comprehend the twisted mind that was Lisa's. At times he thought she was just messing around with him, but sometimes he thought he could see that she really enjoyed being around him, and that she didn't just see him as some kind of boy who was there for the sole purpose of entertainment. Ichigo got up from the bed and started dressing himself. He looked around the room again when he remembered that Lisa had said that she'd slept in here, but apart from his bed own bed all the others were completely untouched. Ichigo hoped she hadn't slept where he thought she had. . .

Deciding he should get going soon Ichigo walked to the sink standing at the side of the room and splashed some water in his face. He dried his face with the towel hanging over one of the beds next to it and walked out of the room to see how Rukia and the others were doing.

---|---

When Ichigo arrived in the living room he saw his two sisters talking with Rukia on the couch. They seemed to be pretty familiar with one another. Ichigo didn't know if they'd even talked to each other before now. Of course they'd seen each other a couple of times when Rukia was in the Real World after having transferred her powers to him, but he didn't think they'd had a conversation back then. Rukia had told him that Isshin and his sisters had tried to kidnap her, though. Maybe they'd finally succeeded. Especially Yuzu would like that. She needed someone to talk to beside their dad now Ichigo was gone.

His gaze wandered off to the left and he spotted Lisa sitting on the chair which stood to the side of the couch. She was watching the girls interact a bit uneasily. Ichigo knew she was trying to hide it, but he could see she was very uncomfortable. He was sure that the incident of her Hollowfication was spinning through her head right now. Lisa, just like all the other Vaizards, had a grudge against the Shinigami and to a lesser extent humans as well. They had left them to be executed and shouldn't be trusted. Even though it had been central 46 who had decided on their fate, the Vaizards had a hard time trusting Shinigami.

Ichigo hoped that in due time Lisa would come to see that not all the Shinigami were the same. He knew she tried to hide her feelings towards everyone else who was not a Vaizard, but she didn't completely succeed in that. Ichigo could notice it when she talked to others. There would be a tension in the air that betrayed her true feelings towards them. He knew that when Inoue had asked if Lisa wanted to stay with Ichigo alone, she wouldn't have thought about it for longer than a few seconds. She'd been in this house ever since the battle was finished and she'd had to cope with a lot of people whom were not Vaizards. The little breathing room she'd been granted by Inoue was probably something she'd craved for ever since she'd been here. It is very hard to act civil to someone when you have an underlying grudge against them. Ichigo wondered if Rukia could be the person who would be able to break through the thick skull of Lisa. When she had come to the Vaizards she'd been invited to come back by Lisa. Ichigo hoped that that was a sign that Lisa was getting at least a bit more familiar with the Shinigami girl.

When Lisa saw him standing in the doorway she gave him a relieved smile which Ichigo returned. Yes, she really wasn't comfortable right now. Ichigo looked around for Isshin, but he couldn't spot the man anywhere. That was a bad sign. Whenever his dad was silent you knew he was up to something. Ichigo looked back at Lisa he saw her eyes darting up towards the ceiling every few seconds or so. Ichigo got the message. He walked inside the room and greeted everyone. Rukia looked up and gave him a sad smile. It seemed that the ghosts of the battle still haunted her. After a few more steps he heard a sudden noise above him and quickly stepped to the side.

"Morning, dad," Ichigo said as Isshin crashed face first into the ground at the spot where he'd just been standing. His father mumbled a 'good morning' back to his son, but the words were barely distinguishable since he was lying with his face on the ground. Why the man kept doing stuff like this, Ichigo didn't know, but he guessed it had become a tradition that couldn't be broken anymore.

"Ichigo!" Yuzu all but screamed before she launched herself at him and hugged his waist. Karin joined the hug as well, if a little hesitantly. Ichigo grinned and ruffled their heads, it had been quite a while since he'd talked with his little sisters. He was very curious how they were doing, from what Rukia had told him they were able to use a few minor Kidou spells and who knows what else they'd learned from Isshin by now.

An hour later everyone gathered around the table for lunch. Yuzu had made it together with a little help from Rukia while the rest sat in the living room. They discussed the battle that had happened two days ago and what possible plans Aizen might have in the near future. Ichigo thought they'd just come to Karakura Town to check the resistance, therefore it wasn't likely he would attack them anytime soon. There was no guarantee for that, though. Aizen had done unexpected things more than once in the past. The Vaizards knew that all too well.

"Shouldn't we wake Inoue up?" Rukia asked just before everyone wanted to start with the delicious food. "I think she could use something to eat since she's been up for almost two days in a row to heal us."

"I'll go and get her!" Isshin said at once, but he was stopped by Ichigo before he'd even had the chance to get up from his chair.

"No you're not, old man. You'd scare her to death. The last time you went to my room to wake me up you almost destroyed the door. I'll go and wake her up."

"Don't stay away too long, Ichigo," Isshin said with a wicked grin on his face.

"Don't worry dad. You're not becoming a granddad just yet," Ichigo said, earning him a big smile from Lisa, while Isshin almost fell off of his chair. He hadn't been expecting that one coming from his own son. It seemed Lisa had a bad influence on the boy's behavior.

Ichigo left the table and walked up the stairs. He knocked a few times on the door, but when he didn't get a response he opened the door and walked inside. Inoue was lying on top of his bedcovers and still had her clothes on. She had been so tired that she hadn't even taken the time to take them off and crawl under the covers.

"Oi, Inoue," Ichigo said as he walked towards the girl lying on his bed and tried to wake her up. "It's time to wake up now, everyone is eating downstairs and I'm sure you could use some food as well."

When she didn't respond, Ichigo gently shook her shoulders.

Inoue violently sat up on his bed and knocked her head against Ichigo's. "Owie, that hurt," Inoue said sleepily, rubbing her head. She looked around the room and spotted Ichigo standing in front of her, clutching his forehead for the second time that day. "What're you doing in my room Ichigo, shouldn't you be at home? "

Ichigo sighed. "For your information, this is my room, and I came to wake you up because lunch is ready. Everyone is downstairs waiting for us."

"Oh, I'm sorry, Ichigo!" Inoue said and she quickly stood up.

"That's all right, Inoue. Let's go downstairs before my dad starts unleashing gossips that he's going to become a granddad throughout the town."

Inoue had no clue what he was talking about and frowned at him, deep in thought. When he didn't elaborate she shrugged it off and followed him to the kitchen. She couldn't wait to see everyone up and walking again and she had to admit she was pretty famished as well.

---|---

Shinji silently snuck into the hideout and checked the room to see if the other Vaizards were around. He hadn't told anyone that he went to join the battle against the Espada attacking the town when he had left, but he was certain they'd be missing him by now. It had been two days since he'd left. To be honest Shinji was amazed that Hiyori hadn't captured him yet and dragged him home by his ear. That was really something she'd do. Lisa was also missing in the Vaizard hideout, but the others most likely were too afraid to try and force her to come home. She'd been at the Kurosaki's ever since the battle with the Espada had finished. Without any life-threatening wounds she could've gone back to the hideout ages ago, but she had stayed. Lisa had told Shinji that she wanted to wait until Ichigo was awake again. Shinji didn't know what was going on, but that boy seemed to have the power to bring forth wonders. Lisa, caring for some boy she'd only just met? If Shinji didn't know better he'd say that it was impossible, but it wasn't. Ever since Ichigo started training with her they'd been inseparable.

Shinji figured the Vaizards knew exactly where he and Lisa were. Lisa had made it quite clear where she was going. Her parting words to him had stung, though. He knew he had said too much when he'd called Ichigo and the other Shinigami worthless, but he still thought Lisa had overreacted by punching him in the face and worse if Hachigen hadn't protected him with a barrier. The punch didn't bother him at all, though. He was on the receiving end from Hiyori's punches daily, but what Lisa had said before she sped form the room had hit him harder than Hiyori's left sandal.

"_They're protecting their friends and family, I don't think you can call them worthless if they do that! We may have been abandoned all those years ago, but not everyone is like Yamamoto and Central 46! You are worthless!"_

Shinji shook his head as he remembered her words. Worthless. She'd called him worthless. At first Shinji had been furious when she'd left like that, but when he'd calmed down a bit and thought about their point of view, he'd had to admit that they were right and he chased after Lisa. Of course, they'd been abandoned when Aizen had turned them into Hollows. That act from Soul Society had caused the Vaizards to never trust any Shinigami but the ones who had saved them, but when you looked at it logically it wasn't fair for those Shinigami. Only a few Shinigami had hated them and wanted them executed right on the spot because of their black-and-white-vision. They believed that all the Hollows were the same. In their eyes the Vaizards were the same as any ordinary Hollow.

How wrong they were

And how wrong the Vaizards themselves had been. They had become the people they loathed. They had developed their own black-and-white-vision. The Vaizards now saw all the Shinigami as their enemies, while, in reality, only a few of them deserved that title. Lisa had come to that conclusion as well. Or well, at least she'd been going into that direction. Even before she became a Vaizards Lisa hadn't been keen on trusting other people, whether they were Shinigami or not, but now Lisa was slowly going towards the direction she'd so violently pushed Shinji in.

Shinji made a mental note to thank Lisa for clearing his vision later on. Because of the recent events he still hadn't had the time to thank her. He could envision her face when he thanked her for calling him worthless. She probably hadn't realized that she was the one who had given him the shove he needed to realize that he'd been acting like a hypocrite for all those years, but she was. And he was grateful for it. The only task that lay ahead was convincing the other Vaizards from his point of view. He hoped Hiyori would be reasonable, but he sincerely doubted it.

Shinji snapped out of the thoughts that had been running through his head ever since he'd woken up in the Kurosaki clinic that very morning and concentrated himself on what he had to do now. The extremely difficult task that was convincing Hiyori would have to wait for a while. First he needed to find the other Vaizards and tell them what had happened in the past two days. He also had to tell them where Lisa was, but he thought they'd figured that out by themselves by now.

Figuring they'd be there, Shinji walked towards the basement. Lately they'd been there most of the time. All watching the training with Lisa and Ichigo develop. Before he had started training, the Vaizards themselves had fought against each other as well. Each had their own unique fighting skills, which made their little matches unpredictable. When Shinji had challenged Lisa for a duel things had gone wrong, though. Lisa didn't want to fight with him, and after angering her Shinji got wounded pretty badly and wasn't able to fight for a few days afterwards. Since then they barely had any matches anymore. They were content in watching their new Vaizard develop his fighting skills and they only did a few exercises to stay fit. That was soon going to change, though. Lisa had made a bet with Hiyori that Ichigo was going to beat her in a match after he had some training. Hiyori had gracefully accepted since the boy hadn't shown any potential in her eyes, but Shinji knew better. Ichigo had increased his fighting abilities a lot since he had been training with Lisa.

Shinji was getting a little bit worried, though. Not just because of the match in a little over week between Hiyori and Ichigo, but of the Espada as well. They were a lot stronger than he'd expected them to be. He had faith in the Vaizards, but faith alone wouldn't bring them victory. They needed to start training seriously. Aizen probably wouldn't attack Karakura Town yet, but that didn't mean they could just relax while he was scheming back in Hueco Mundo. Shinji decided to give the Vaizards a well-deserved wake-up call. They needed to understand that they would be slaughtered if they just kept idling in the hideout, doing nothing else but sit and watch Ichigo working his ass off.

Shinji scanned the basement as he started walking down the stairs. Before he got the chance to check their usual spot Shinji felt the profile of Hiyori's left sandal hitting the back of his head and he crashed down the stairs, his head hitting the steps one after the other until he skidded to a halt at the bottom.

"Oi, dickhead! What took ya so long? You were gone for ages!" Hiyori screamed in his ear after she jumped down the stairs and sat down on his back.

Welcome home, Shinji thought bitterly. Why does she always react like this?

"I'm talkin' to ya, dickhead. Answer me! Why did ya run off like that?"

Shinji raised his head a few inches so he'd be able to talk. "Hello to you too, Hiyori, it's nice to see ya," he replied, ignoring her questions.

"Don'tcha 'hello' me," Hiyori glared, giving the back of his head a slap, pushing his face back in the dirt.

Shinji tried to talk again but his words were muffled by the sand as his head was being pushed further into the dirt. He grabbed Hiyori's wrist with his arm and released himself from her grasp. He coughed up the sand and took a few deep breaths.

"Shaddap, Hiyori, yer gonna make my ears bleed one of these days," Shinji said. "As for yer question, I was fightin' those Espada. I thought you'd have figured that out by now."

"I knew it! Ya went after Lisa to help those Shinigami. Why did ya do that, Shinji? You know they're scum!"

Shinji decided not to argue with her, yet. She wouldn't listen to him anyway. For now he had to concentrate on his main objective: getting the Vaizards of their lazy asses and inform them of the strength of the Espada. If that message got through their thick skulls he could try to convince Hiyori that she shouldn't judge the Shinigami before she got to know them. It seemed an impossible task, but a man could always try.

"Shut yer piehole and come with me. I'll tell ya what happened the past two days," Shinji said as he got up from the ground and dragged a struggling Hiyori behind him.

When he arrived at the other Vaizards, who had indeed been sitting on their usual spot, Shinji told them what had happened since he'd left the hideout to chase after Lisa. He told them how Ichigo and Lisa were both fighting two strong Espada on their own. Shinji had waited for the right moment to strike, that moment had come a lot faster than he had expected, though. When Ichigo got hit by Ulquiorra he let out a scream which distracted Lisa. In that moment of distraction Lisa's opponent had been able to capture her. Shinji had done the only thing that came to his mind and shielded Lisa with his body, before cutting her free. After that he had quickly passed out, but, thanks to Lisa, he was able to tell everyone bits and pieces of the remainder of the fight, and he could also tell them some general information about the Espada themselves. They were similar to the Vaizards, but from what they'd been able to gather about them so far there were some minor differences. Shinji was sure that there were a lot of things he didn't know about the Espada yet, though.

When he was done talking the Vaizards remained silent. They just couldn't comprehend that both Shinji and Lisa hadn't been able to defeat the Espada. Sure, Lisa had been distracted by Ichigo and Shinji had acted carelessly by jumping in front of her to block Luppi's attack so they hadn't actually had a fair one-on-one fight, but war was never fair. Things like that happened all the time on the battlefield.

"I believe it is fair ta say that the Espada have been underestimated," Shinji said at last, breaking the eerie silence.

"Yer pathetic, Shinji," Hiyori said angrily. "If ya got beaten that quickly yer just weak."

All the Vaizards covered their faces with their palms at Hiyori's obvious attempt to piss Shinji off. Won't she ever learn?

What Shinji did next surprised them all, though. "Yes, yer right, Hiyori. I'm weak. I'm a pathetic weaklin'!" He slowly looked everyone in the eyes before he continued again. "But I'm not the only weaklin' in here! In all our years of seclusion we've grown soft. Weak. We need to get of our lazy asses and start doing what we promised each other in our first year in this basement. I remember it as the day of yesterday when we gathered at this very spot and swore to each other we would get strong. Strong so we could avenge all those unfortunate souls that got killed by Aizen when he used them as his test subjects; strong so we could avenge ourselves and show Soul Society that we're not some Hollow-like creatures left behind to be executed; strong so we could kill the bastard who made us suffer and end this madness for once and for all."

Shinji fell silent for a moments and studied the faces of his fellow Vaizards. He walked towards a low rock standing on his left side and climbed on it, so he towered over the other Vaizards. "What happened to our oath!" He yelled. "We forgot about it, that's what. We let time turn our promises to dust. We started feeling safe and comfortable even though the threat of Aizen hung above our very heads! And now that he's setting his plans into motion we couldn't care less. Even though we all swore an oath never to rest before our revenge was complete, we got lazy.

"In our current condition the Espada will mop the floor with us. Hell, even Ichigo is getting stronger than us. We need to start working again so we can achieve our goal and fulfill our oath we've sworn together!" Shinji looked down and saw everyone looking at him in awe. He took a deep breath and finished his speech. "We must act now. Only by working together we can still defeat Aizen and his enormous army of Espada and Arrancar. The time of lifting weights and doing exercises has long since passed. We need to work together, fight together, and die together if need be. I think Hiyori's little bet is the perfect chance for us to do so." Shinji ignored the frowns directed at him and explained what part her bet with Lisa would play in his plan. "As you all know Hiyori will fight with Ichigo ten days time. I want to use this opportunity to organize a tournament among all the Vaizards."

Silence was the answer.

"As I've said," Shinji continued. "The time of lifting weights and doing exercises has long since passed. What we need are battle-simulations. Only by fighting each other we will learn to gauge our opponents strengths and weaknesses in a heated battle. That is what we need. The best way to do that is to create those battles ourselves. Another point from this idea that'll benefit us in the long run is that we will learn the strengths and weaknesses from ourselves. This way we can adapt our fighting styles and help each other out should the need arise."

Hiyori was the first to break the silence. She cracked her knuckles and climbed on the rock that Shinji was using as his speaking throne. She whacked Shinji across his face, causing him to stumble and fall off the rock. "Dickhead. Why would you give us such an annoying and long speech just to tell us this bullshit. You always try to sound like the wisest person around here with your smart talk. It's pissing me off!" Hiyori screamed at him.

Shinji looked up at Hiyori and wanted to shout at her for ruining his moment of glory, but he fell silent when he caught the look on her face. Her eyes were burning with a determination. It had been a very very long time since he'd seen those eyes. Shinji looked at the other faces in the room and saw the same determination shining in their eyes. They'd found the flame of battle again. Shinji wanted to hug Hiyori and scream in joy that he'd been able to get the message through their thick skulls, but before he had the chance to do so Hiyori dashed forward with her sword in her hands.

"Would you be so kind to help me prepare for my first battle, Shinji?" Hiyori shouted at him as an evil grin formed on her face, showing off her fang-like tooth, adding to the image of the insane woman that was Hiyori.

Crap, Shinji thought as he ran for his life. I should've stuck with lifting weights and doing those stupid exercises!

---|---

Lisa and Ichigo left his house and made their way back to the Vaizards hideout. Lunch had been a chaotic affair as it always was with the Kurosaki's, but it had been nice to just sit and chat with his family and friends, knowing that the threat was gone, even if it was only for a little while. It was a miracle that no one had been killed, but it was certainly no guarantee for the future. Everyone knew that, but Isshin had always had the talent to let everyone forget their worries by acting like the dumb man he was. He'd fought with Ichigo for a bit while eating lunch and he did all kinds of acrobatic when no one least expected it. It took everyone's mind of the battle and it let them enjoy the lunch as much as possible.

It didn't work on everyone, though. No matter how hard she tried to hide it, Ichigo could see Rukia staring aimlessly in front of her, deep in thought. Whenever she was worried about something she would do that. She always thought she hid it well, but Ichigo had no problem in telling when she was upset about something. Even after they were done with lunch and sat in the living room her frown never left her face. Ichigo had caught Lisa looking at the petite girl as well, but she didn't say anything about it.

They'd soon after left the house. Everyone had wanted them to stay, but after much talking and promising they'd visit them again sometime soon they were finally able to rid themselves of the mob of people clinging to their legs. At the door Rukia had snapped out of her thoughts for a little while and had hugged Ichigo before telling him she'd come to the Vaizard hideout in a little while to watch his battle with Hiyori.

Isshin wasn't planning on letting the two go so fast. He literally tried to chain them to the house in his attempts to stall their leaving, but two elbows in his face were enough to buy both Lisa and Ichigo enough time to run away.

"Thanks for staying there with me," Ichigo said as they walked past the countless houses that guided their way through the city. "I know it must've been quite hard for you."

"No problem, Ichigo. I doubted you'd have been able to find your way to the hideout on your own, so I decided to stay until you were awake. It's not that hard to wait for some lazy ass to finally wake up, you know. Although I have to admit I was very tempted to use my special 'wake-up-techniques'."

"No, I mean it, Lisa. I know you're very uncomfortable when you're around regular folks and Shinigami. Being coped up with that many people in my house mustn't have been the easiest thing for you. Especially with my family and all."

Lisa looked at Ichigo with surprise. She had tried to hide her true feelings about being there for two days, but it seemed Ichigo had seen through that. She sighed. "Okay, maybe it was a little uncomfortable, but it wasn't as bad as I had expected it to be. Your dad actually lightened the mood for me, he made me forget all that crap about the Hollowfication, and I really liked your sisters. They're nice to me and Yuzu really surprised me by her determination to save the people she cares for. She was so exhausted the first night that she literally fell asleep in my arms."

Ichigo nearly missed a step and tripped when they reached the hideout. Yuzu fell asleep in her arms? What in the world was happening to Lisa. Ichigo couldn't be sure, but it seemed that she was getting pretty familiar with other people. Ichigo had to remind himself to thank Yuzu later on. And he supposed that Rukia and even his dad had played a small role in it as well.

They walked inside the hideout and stopped in their tracks for a few moments when they heard the ruckus coming from the basement.

"By the sound of it I'd say they're killing each other off," Ichigo said.

"That's odd," Lisa replied. "Since when did they get off their lazy asses and decided to do something. I bet it's just the radio. Let's check it out."

Ichigo nodded and followed her. He didn't think it sounded like a radio, though.

When they reached the end of the stairs they saw that the Vaizards were indeed fighting. Hiyori was beating the shit out of Love while the rest intently watched the battle develop. Shinji looked up when he saw them and practically ran towards Lisa.

"There you are, Lisa!" He said as he jumped forward and hugged her.

Okay, I take that back Ichigo thought as Lisa growled in anger. She hasn't gotten more familiar with other people at all.

The eyes of the other Vaizards nearly popped out of their skulls as they watched Shinji hug Lisa. Even Hiyori stopped for a moment and completely ignored the panting Love who was sitting on the ground, catching his breath. Shinji didn't keep it at that, though. He entered the death-zone by pinching Lisa's butt with a smirk on his face. "C'mon Lisa, don't act so stiff. It's a happy day! Let us fight to celebrate."

Lisa seethed with anger as she shook Shinji off of her and grabbed her sword. Shinji immediately turned and ran for his life. He had wanted a challenge and he would surely get one now. If he would live to tell the tale was yet to be seen, though.

"Get here, you fucking rat!" Lisa roared and her mask formed on top of her head before she dashed away and chased Shinji.

---|---|---

*Pant pant* So, I've been able to finish this chapter before I got really busy. Or well, I'm supposed to be really busy. I'm really getting into the story now and I just can't stop writing. The next week and a half I probably won't be writing much, but you never know if I can get another chapter in. A lot of reviews would certainly motivate me to do so!

As you've been able to read in this chapter the fight between Ichigo and Hiyori is drawing closer and closer. And I can promise you, that won't be the only fight you'll be able to see in the near future! Besides that I'm very curious as to what everyone thinks about Shinji's little 'speech.' I suddenly got the idea and just started writing it. Being this serious is not something he would do often, but I hope it was fun to read, anyway.

R&R!!

- Yonda


	16. Chapter 16: Preparations

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Bleach or any of the characters.

**Chapter 16: Preparations**

Rukia groaned as she held her head in her hands. It had been a couple of days since the battle in Karakura Town already, but she still felt bad. She had an uneasy feeling in the pit of her stomach which kept gnawing at her. She had tried so hard to show everyone that she was powerful in her own right and didn't need protection from anyone, but it had been futile. In the end she still needed to be protected by Ichigo and even Lisa. After she'd defeated the rather weak Arrancar, Rukia had gone after Isshin together with Ichigo. Before they reached the man however, they encountered Luppi who called himself the Sextra Espada.

She knew that Espada's were very strong, but after Luppi had released, Rukia hadn't even been able to touch him. Three of those damned tentacles were enough to keep her busy. Rukia thought that it was pathetic. A Vice-Captain should be able to do more than that, but she couldn't. She was weak.

What was it she wanted to do in the war if she couldn't even pose a threat to one Espada? From what Rukia had heard, the top five Espada were a lot stronger the one she'd fought. She couldn't even begin to imagine how strong they had to be. The gap in power between her and the Espada was huge. That was the thing that upset her the most. A Vice-Captain should be able to at least give the weaker Espada a good fight, but Rukia hadn't even come close to that.

No, she hadn't even been able to give Luppi a good fight when he didn't even focus his full attention on her. At least Ichigo had been fighting more instead of only dodging Luppi's tentacles, like she had. Besides that he had rescued her from a certain death… again.

If he hadn't been able to release her from Luppi's grasp in time, she would surely have died. They were lucky that Lisa had come to help them out as well. By the time Rukia had been unconscious, another Espada had joined the battlefield and had attacked Ichigo while Lisa fought against Luppi on her own. From what Rukia had heard Lisa had done a great job of that. With a little help from Shinji she had effectively fought off Luppi.

Lisa truly was a strong woman. Being able to fight off a released Espada almost completely on your own without releasing your Zanpakutou proved that.

Rukia was envious at Ichigo for receiving training from Lisa. In her eyes Lisa was perfect. The girl was smart, strong, fast, and always seemed to be in control of the situation. She would always get what she wanted and even though she hadn't been a Captain in Soul Society, Rukia didn't doubt that Lisa was one of the strongest Vaizards at the moment. Rukia looked up to Lisa's mysterious character and admired her. Lisa would never let anyone see her true potential, but by doing that everyone knew that you shouldn't mess with her. Shinji seemed to forget that at times, though.

Besides that Rukia knew that Lisa had a kind side as well. After she had visited Ichigo at the Vaizards hideout and went home, Lisa had followed her and had invited her to come back and watch the battle between Hiyori and Ichigo. Lisa had also told her that she wanted to fight with her. Rukia had liked the idea at first, but now she wasn't so sure anymore. Rukia sincerely doubted she would last longer than five minutes before Lisa won the battle.

She hated this. She hated that she was weak and needed the protection she had so adamantly tried to get rid of.

Rukia clenched her fists in anger and, when she suddenly felt a hand on her shoulder, she instantly reacted by punching the owner of the hand in his face, slamming him against the wall in the process.

She snapped out of her thoughts and rushed towards Isshin, who was clutching his bleeding nose. "I'm sorry Isshin!" She said frantically. "I was lost in thought, I didn't see you come in."

"Must have been pleasant thoughts," Isshin replied as small droplets of blood dripped from his chin. His face faltered when he saw Rukia's reaction, though.

Her worried face had turned into a face of sadness and she averted her eyes from Isshin. "Not really."

Upon seeing his third daughter so sad, Isshin immediately stood up and laid a hand on her shoulder. "You're way too young to have such an expression on your face, Rukia." Isshin smiled. "Masaki would scold me if she saw a face like that."

Rukia turned around, but before she was able to reply Isshin pulled her off her feet and laid her over his shoulder. "Come with me, Rukia," he said cheerfully as he walked out of the room.

"Oi! Let go of me! I can walk just fine on my own," Rukia yelled as she trashed with her arms and legs, trying to get away.

Isshin ignored her and just kept walking up the stairs. Rukia kept resisting, but when she noticed they were walking all the way up to the old attic she went still. "Where are we going?"

"Open your eyes, Rukia. We're going up the stairs. I know it must be hard for you to comprehend that fact, but I simply can't be bothered to explain what stairs are to you," Isshin said with a sigh, earning him another punch in his face.

"Bastard," Rukia muttered, and although she tried very hard to hide it, she couldn't keep a smile from forming on her lips. That man really was good at lightening the mood in situations like this.

When they reached the dusty attic, Isshin put Rukia back on her feet and forced her to sit down in front of the window, overlooking the street. "Talk," he simply said as he sat down next to her.

"'Scuse me?"

"Talk," Isshin repeated. "Before you punched me in my face the first time I had been calling out to you for at least ten minutes. At first I thought you were just trying to ignore me, but when I started calling you vile names you just kept staring at the floor. If I hadn't felt your Reiatsu I would've thought you were dead. Getting depressed like that isn't good, Rukia."

"I'm not depressed!" Rukia said, but when Isshin said nothing and merely stared at her, Rukia gave in. He was only trying to help her, anyway. "Okay, maybe a little bit…" Rukia averted her eyes again and stared at the floor as she absentmindedly drew circles on the dusty floor with her finger. "And what was that with the vile names?"

"Never mind that," Isshin said waving with his arms, as if to push the question aside. "Just talk. If you don't I'll force it out of you."

Rukia was silent for a long time before she finally said something. "Do you know that Ichigo has saved my life two times already?" Rukia asked, not expecting an answer. "Silly boy. I should've been dead. Even though it was odd, I already had accepted my fate of my execution, but your nosey son came to Soul Society and ruined everything. He just had to come and save me because he thought he owed me something. I had even told him he wasn't allowed to follow me. I told him I would never forgive him, but he didn't listen." Rukia looked up at Isshin with a sad smile. "Must've been his lousy upbringing he received from a certain man."

"And during the attack on Karakura Town Ichigo had to protect me again. If he hadn't cut me loose I would've been dead. If… if he hadn't been there I… I wouldn't be here either." Rukia stared out of the window and watched the people walking on the sidewalk as silent tears trailed over her cheeks. "Isshin," Rukia continued again. "Do you think I'm weak?"

"Of course I don't think that, Rukia," Isshin said as he enveloped her in a hug. "I'm pretty certain of it."

Rukia who had laid her head on Isshin's shoulder, suddenly looked up. Before she could say anything, however, Isshin continued again. "After all, only weak Shinigami get promoted to Vice-Captain by Ukitake, and are able to surprise a Captain and almost break his nose without any effort whatsoever."

"That doesn't count."

"Why not, Rukia? As a matter of fact I've known Ukitake for quite some time before I left Soul Society. He doesn't choose his Vice-Captains lightly. When he had set his eyes on Kaien, he kept the spot open until he finally got the man to agree and take his well-deserved position. I'm pretty sure he has done the same thing to you."

Rukia swallowed heavily at the mention of Kaien's name. "I didn't mean the part about my promotion. I meant me catching you by surprise. You can't really call that a battle simulation and it's not like it's that hard to surprise you. Ichigo and Karin used to hit you all the time."

Isshin smiled. "I didn't say anything about being hit. I get hit all the time, but that doesn't mean they also catch me by surprise. If I would dodge them all the time that would ruin all the fun. But Rukia, you did catch me by surprise."

"Being able to surprise you once won't help me survive much longer, though. I simply reacted, I didn't do it on purpose."

"That's good. In battle it is much better to let your instincts guide you than relying on your tactical mind alone. Don't get me wrong Rukia, it is important to evaluate the battle and search for your opponent's strengths and weaknesses in order to come to a plan, but in certain situations it's much better to let your guts guide you and simply react without thinking too much about it. I think you're the complete opposite of Ichigo at this. While you rely too much on your tactical mind, Ichigo relies too much on his emotions and his instinct. He gets rash and makes a lot of mistakes, but he has also saved himself from various dangerous situations while doing just that."

Rukia remained silent and leaned with her shoulder against the wall. Was it true? Did she really needed to trust more on her guts? She'd always thought that she needed to control her emotions and fight with her mind, but Isshin was right about Ichigo. If it wasn't for him acting so rashly he wouldn't have been able to save himself from certain situations.

"What do you think about Lisa?" Rukia suddenly blurted out.

"Why? Are you jealous of her?" Isshin asked, surprised by the sudden change of topic.

"Of course not! I admire her. I think she's very smart and powerful. She certainly has enough guts to give Ichigo a run for his money as well. That boy is really lucky to have Lisa teaching him how to get stronger. Their abilities match each other very good."

Isshin chuckled. "You got that right."

"Did you know that Lisa invited me to come to the hideout and watch Ichigo's battle with Hiyori? Lisa even told me that she might want to fight with me as well."

"Yeah, I know about the tournament they're organizing."

"Tournament?" Rukia asked perplexed.

"Yes, that's the reason why I went to your room. Lisa and Shinji came by this morning and asked me if I could be there together with Yuzu and Karin when the tournament starts. The Vaizards are starting to train more seriously now the war is drawing closer. Instead of just the fight with Ichigo and Hiyori, they decided that it would be a good idea to organize a tournament for all of the Vaizards. You and Inoue will also be attending and I'll be there with Karin and Yuzu to tend the minor wounds of everyone and to be the referee."

"Unless you're fighting against Lisa, of course. Then the wounds would be a little more life-threatening, but it shouldn't be too bad. Shinji has set up a few general rules considering the tournament. No one is allowed to release his or her Zanpakutou, and only the use of the minor Kidou spells are allowed. Everything above level 50 is prohibited."

"What? I didn't sign up for that!"

"I don't think anyone has signed up for the tournament, Rukia. Shinji can be quite impulsive at times. I don't think Ichigo wanted to join the tournament, either. Almost all the Vaizards consider him one of them now, so it's only natural that he's participating as well, but he knows Lisa's abilities more than anyone else. Of that I'm sure"

"Lisa will kill me under one minute, I won't even have the chance to fight with the others."

"Of course you will. I'm sure Lisa will go easy on you," Isshin said, but after Rukia glared at him for a moment he changed his mind. "Okay, maybe not, but she won't kill you, I'll make sure of that."

Rukia groaned and leaned her forehead against the cool window. "There's no way I'll even be able to put up a fight with them even if I survive. I'm too weak for that."

Isshin slapped the back of her head, causing Rukia's face to collide with the window. "Don't let me ever hear those words again, Rukia. You're not weak. Where has all the confidence you showed when you first got here gone? Where is your pride? You got hurt while being overpowered by the enemy, so what! Do you think that hasn't happened to any of us? Even Lisa got overpowered by Aizen all those years ago when he was still a Vice-Captain. Do you think she's weak?"

"Well… no, not really… but," Rukia stammered, overwhelmed by Isshin's sudden outburst.

"Of course not, because she isn't weak! She almost got killed during her Hollowfication, but she never gave up. She kept fighting her inner Hollow as long as she could, and she will keep fighting Aizen even if it costs her her life! Believe in yourself Rukia. If you don't believe in your own strength then who will?"

Rukia sighed as she rubbed her sore nose. "I guess you're right, Isshin. I've been acting really silly today, but can you please promise me one thing?"

"What?"

"Please never try to act so seriously in front of me again. It really doesn't suit you at all."

Isshin's face turned into a scowl. "Stupid brat. Here I was about to tell you I was going to prepare you for the tournament so you'd be able to kick their asses, but now you've ruined everything."

"What! Are you serious? Thank you so much, Isshin," Rukia said as she hugged the man before he could voice his protest.

"Don't get too excited, though. You don't even know my training methods, yet."

Rukia grinned. "I can handle it." She looked around the room and saw that the floor and shelves were stacked with all kind of boxes, coated with dust. "Why did you bring me to this room, Isshin? And what's what all those boxes?"

"I'm glad you asked. This is the room where Ichigo has spent most of his time when Masaki had just died. He would stare out of that window for hours on end. He's the one who put all the boxes in here and filled them with all the photo's of Masaki he could find. Besides the poster downstairs I wasn't able to save anything."

"I never knew he was such a sensitive boy, I heard he really cared for his mother, but to make this whole room into a memorial for her…" Rukia opened the box closest to her and looked at the photo lying on top. It displayed the smiling face of Masaki. "Why didn't you take any of the photo's back downstairs, Isshin? They're beautiful and I don't think Ichigo would mind."

Isshin smiled. "It's not Ichigo who I'm afraid of. Masaki would kill me if I took the photo's back. She always said that she didn't want so many pictures of her around the house. She hated them and always said that she looked stupid on them, which obviously isn't true. But after she died Ichigo grabbed the photo's one by one and stripped almost the entire house of her pictures. Sometimes I still think that Masaki's spirit ordered Ichigo to do that. It's certainly something she would do."

Rukia laughed. "She seems to be a wonderful woman, I wish I would've had the chance to get to meet her as well."

"I'm sure Masaki would've liked that as well." Isshin grabbed a nearby box and started rummaging through it. "We've got other things on our minds now, though. I've got loads of embarrassing photo's of Ichigo to show you. That's the price he has to pay for granting Masaki's wish. I think there are some pictures in here where Masaki is bathing Ichigo."

---|---

Grimmjow angrily paced through his quarters. To say he was furious didn't even come close. Since he had been removed from his rank as Sextra Espada and lost his arm, Luppi had done everything to anger him as much as possible. That boy had annoyed him to no end even before Grimmjow had been demoted. He always had a big mouth and acted like he owned the place. More than once, Grimmjow had to keep himself from attacking Luppi. The boy obviously knew that, it was most likely also the reason why he did the things he did.

Only a few days ago Luppi had struck again. He had been ordered to attack Karakura Town together with Yammy and Ulquiorra. They had to determine the strength of the Shinigami residing there. Aizen had also told them they should bring a few Arrancar with them who could deal with the weaker opponents in Karakura Town. They didn't have any Fraccíon of their own, so Luppi had taken the liberty to order Grimmjow's Fraccíon to come with them. They had no choice but to obey. All the Espada had the power to order any Arrancar around. The Espada were allowed to punish them if they didn't cooperate.

Now Grimmjow wasn't an Espada anymore, he didn't have the power to counter the order Luppi had given his Fraccíon. Technically he wasn't allowed to have a Fraccíon anymore, but they'd known each other for so long that it only seemed natural for them to stick together. It wasn't that Grimmjow had always been very friendly or kind towards his Fraccíon, but ever since he'd lost his position among the Espada he'd been spending more time with them. They'd been the ones who always stood by his side when they were still Hollows, and they'd continued doing so after Aizen had transformed them into Arrancar, after all.

But now they were gone. Dead

Because of Luppi they were dead. And he was going to pay for it. The only ones that were akin to friends got killed only because Luppi just had to rub it in that he had become the Sextra Espada. Luppi wanted to humiliate him over and over again.

In Grimmjow's eyes Luppi and Yammy were the ones who should be humiliated. They hadn't been able to kill anyone in Karakura Town and got beaten up. Yammy was the one who'd gotten beaten up the worst, though. The arm he'd lost in his previous fight in Karakura Town had been severed from his body once again. Luppi also looked like he'd had a tough fight, but Ulquiorra only had a few cuts and seemed to be doing fine.

Even though they weren't ordered to kill anyone on sight, Grimmjow still thought that they should at least have killed a few of them. If his guess was right the real reason they were sent on this mission was to check out Ichigo. Aizen probably wanted to know if he had done anything with the bracelets. The boy was very stubborn and probably wouldn't use them unless he had no other choice. Killing one of his closest friends would most likely be enough motivation for him. Grimmjow didn't think that the Shinigami in Karakura Town were so strong that three Espada weren't able to kill anyone of them. Either the Espada had held back or the Shinigami had been extremely lucky.

Grimmjow stopped his pacing and made up his mind. He wouldn't sit still and just let it happen. Luppi would pay for what he did with his blood. Having only one arm was troublesome, but if he could surprise Luppi and finish the battle before Luppi released, he still had a chance. Hadn't Aizen told him that he had to prove that he was worthy of the position as an Espada before he was promoted again? What better way was there to prove yourself by killing the one who took your place with only one arm!

He grabbed his Zanpakutou and left his quarters. The Espada had been in the meeting room for quite some time by now. If he acted quickly he could catch Luppi off guard as he left the meeting room and walked back towards his own quarters.

As he silently moved through the halls of Las Noches, Grimmjow decided he wouldn't use his Resurrección to fight Luppi. If he released it would certainly draw the attention to him, and he needed to keep the element of surprise. Grimmjow hid his Reiatsu as best as he could and checked the door to the meeting room. The door was closed, so that meant the meeting wasn't over yet. He'd entered it countless of times already, but it was odd seeing it closed without him inside of it.

While making sure he kept his Reiatsu under control as best as he could, Grimmjow walked away, towards his old quarters. He knew the way like the back of his hand, so it wasn't hard for him to pick a spot where he could wait for Luppi. Grimmjow hid himself from sight in a deserted corridor. He hadn't seen anyone walking through that particular corridor in all the time that he'd been there. It used to lead towards the basement, but the entry had been sealed off. The only way you could get inside the basement was by breaking through the wall.

After a few minutes Grimmjow sensed Luppi coming closer. The meeting was over and that meant that everyone was returning to their respective quarters now. He took a few deep breaths and concentrated himself. It was hard to keep your own Reiatsu hidden while you searched for others. He would have to trust on his guts and hearing if he wanted to strike at the right moment without alerting Luppi. If he didn't hide his Reiatsu enough it would all be over. Luppi's Reiatsu faded away as Grimmjow closed his eyes. It was almost time.

Grimmjow didn't dare to look around the corner, but he could hear footsteps nearing him. He silently stepped closer to the corner and tightly gripped his Zanpakutou. The slow footsteps drew closer and closer. When Luppi's left shoulder appeared around the corner, Grimmjow attacked with all his might and thrust his blade forward, aiming for Luppi's heart. Just before the sword reached its target Luppi noticed him and ducked to the right. He wasn't able to completely dodge the attack, though. Luppi's scream filled the halls as Grimmjow's Zanpakutou pierced his left shoulder blade.

Grimmjow cursed under his breath and quickly pulled his sword back so he could strike again, but he felt an iron grip around his throat and was pushed against the wall. "That's enough, Grimmjow," the voice of Ulquiorra rang out behind his ear. Grimmjow had been so caught up with his attack that he hadn't even noticed that Ulquiorra was walking right behind Luppi.

In the end he still wasn't able to accomplish his task. If Luppi had been alone the Espada certainly wouldn't have been able to survive the attack, but it wasn't supposed to be like that. Grimmjow considered attacking Ulquiorra for a moment, but when Ulquiorra tightened his grip around his throat, Grimmjow decided against it. He could hardly breathe with Ulquiorra's hand closed around his throat. He released the grip on his sword and banished the thoughts of fighting Ulquiorra from his mind. When his Zanpakutou clattered on the floor Ulquiorra lessened the pressure on his throat, if only a little. It wouldn't do to fight Ulquiorra with only one arm. Grimmjow loved to fight and could be quite reckless at times, but he wasn't stupid. It wasn't often he backed away from a fight, but when he looked into the cold eyes of Ulquiorra he wondered if he would live the day.

Ulquiorra gave Grimmjow a warning look as if to dare him to run away and motioned for him to start walking.

Grimmjow grimaced. He knew where they were going. He wondered what Aizen would do with him. Most likely kill him, but you never knew with that man; he was unpredictable.

After a short while Luppi caught up with them clutching his shoulder with one hand as he carried Grimmjow's Zanpakutou in the other. "What do you want me to do with his Zanpakutou, Ulquiorra?" He asked.

Ulquiorra glanced to the side, but otherwise he didn't show any sign that indicated that he'd heard Luppi.

Luppi remained silent and followed the two in silence as he tried to ignore the throbbing pain in his shoulder. His shoulder hurt quite badly, but he didn't want Grimmjow to know that. The filthy ex-Espada had crossed the line. If Aizen didn't punish him enough he would make sure that Grimmjow would never be able to fight another fight again. Not that he was able to do much with only one arm, anyway.

When they reached the door to the meeting room where Aizen was still discussing a few matters with Tousen and Gin, Ulquiorra walked forward and wanted to knock on the door, but just before his hand reached it, Aizen's voice from behind the door interrupted him.

"Please come in, Ulquiorra."

Ulquiorra pushed the door open and walked inside. "Aizen-sama," he said as he kneeled down. "I've come here to bring you a rebellious Arrancar."

Aizen turned around with an impassive face. "Thank you, Ulquiorra."

---|---

He jumped to the side when he saw her kick coming, dodging it by mere inches. Her foot flew so close past his face that he could count the tiny scratches that had been edged into her shoe during the countless training sessions. Ichigo attempted to grab Lisa's leg in order to throw her into the mass of stone and earth beneath them, but she avoided that action form happening by using her other leg to kick has arms away.

Ichigo cursed under his breath and immediately jumped away to create some space between the two of them. You never knew what you could expect from her. Lisa could suddenly change her tactics, or she would call forth her Hollow powers in order to instantly gain a huge amount of speed. Ichigo had noticed, though, that she preferred to fight in close combat. Staying at a distance to try and figure out what her next move would be was the best option for Ichigo, but he always kept in mind that Lisa could zero out that distance anytime she wanted. Especially if she used Sonido.

He still wondered how she'd learned to use that ability and how the hell he was supposed to learn it. According to Lisa the skill wasn't something you could learn just by practicing it. It had something to do with instinct. They'd breached this subject only once while he'd been training with Lisa in the past few weeks.

One night, when all the Vaizards had already gone to bed, Lisa had showed him her true speed. It had only been a brief experience, but Ichigo had been astonished. Besides that he also felt a bit special. Lisa hadn't told him as much, but Ichigo was certain that none of the other Vaizards knew of that ability. That meant that Ichigo was the only one who knew of it. Lisa hadn't asked him to keep it a secret, but he had sort of assumed that it was something she wouldn't like others to know. She trusted him, and Ichigo wasn't going to do anything to violate that trust.

Realizing that he had something to get back to her almost made him laugh out loud, though. Lisa had told him many times before that he was still indebted by her, because of their little 'shower-incident'. On top of that incident he'd lost his freedom for seven days. He'd lost a bit with her… again, but strangely enough she hadn't abused the power she had over him in the past few days at all. Ichigo thought it odd, but then again, Lisa already had him under her control, anyway.

But now he had found something he could use against her. It wasn't much, but you never knew if it could be useful in one way or another. Ichigo wasn't planning on telling her secret about her true speed to anyone, but it didn't hurt to make her believe he would. He grinned as he dove into battle with renewed vigor, surprising Lisa.

"What's gotten you so excited all of a sudden, Ichigo?" She asked.

Ichigo plunged his fist forward and grazed her ear. "Less talking, more fighting."

Lisa grinned. She didn't know how or why, but Ichigo had suddenly started to fight much better than he'd done the previously thirty minutes. It was like he suddenly discovered something. Almost as if he'd come to the conclusion that he had some sort of power over her. An advantage of some sort.

Lisa shook her head. That couldn't be good. Men with power were dangerous, no matter how small the amount. She vowed to herself to beat the idea out of Ichigo's head before the day was over. If he thought he had an advantage, it would get to his head sooner or later and he'd recklessly try to beat her. It wasn't that Lisa was afraid of him, but you never could be too sure. If there was one thing she'd learned in all the years she'd lived, it was that underestimating your opponent was the worst thing you could do.

"I think it's time to take this battle to a higher level, don't you think so, Ichigo?" Lisa smirked as a bubbling white mass appeared in front of her face and formed her unique Hollow mask.

Ichigo returned her smirk. "Yeah, let's."

His Hollow mask, resembling a skull, took form and he jumped back a couple of yards. Just as he reached the rocky formations behind him he pushed off against it with an enormous force, causing several large chunks of rock to fall off and crumble to little pieces on the ground. While in mid-air, Ichigo retracted his left arm, preparing for a frontal attack with Lisa, who still hadn't moved from her spot. If he got the timing right he could finally shut that mouth of hers.

Lisa braced herself for impact when she saw Ichigo charging at her with an enormous speed. She wanted to counter his attack with brute power alone, but when she saw him retracting his left arm instead of his right, as he always did during training sessions, she changed her mind. It was very unusual for him to use his left arm. Although he was stronger with his left arm now, he still preferred his right arm. His reasoning could be quite odd, why use your weaker arm in battle?

Odd as it was, Lisa had never said anything about it. She was glad that he had decided to change his usual fighting strategy, though. Not that it would grant him even the tiniest bit of mercy from her. Lisa had already decided that Ichigo needed a good beating, and when she decided something like that, it was going to happen. Period. If she jumped to the side right now, Ichigo still had enough time to react and change his course, but she didn't want that to happen. No, she wanted to let him taste his bitter defeat by making him think he could win. If she wanted it to look real, she had to play smart, though. It was risky, but doable.

She took a deep breath and held it in as she concentrated herself on her task. Time seemed to drag on as Ichigo inched closer and closer. Lisa could see him clearly in front of her, his knuckles stood white out against the rest of his fist, and his muscles seemed to tremble with anticipation. Uncontrolled power, ready to be released. Ichigo grinned at her. Lisa could almost see the victory that would soon be crushed in his brown eyes.

She waited for the right moment and jumped back, flying together with Ichigo for only a matter of seconds, before she gave him a wicked grin.

He was hers.

Lisa put her hand on the ground, ignoring the pain it caused as the small stones on the ground cut her hand open. She violently jerked her body to the right and landed kick at his side, causing Ichigo to gasp as the air was driven from his lungs. He was knocked off course and flew to the side just when he finished his punch, aimed at Lisa. Instead of hitting the side of Lisa's face, he hit the hard, rocky ground. It hurt, but his mind didn't have time to register the pain of his hand. Ichigo skidded across the floor at an enormous speed and came to a halt when the wall didn't allow him to go any further.

Lisa would've loved to see Ichigo's spectacular landing, but she was rocketed to the side as well and her deep breath was left behind. When she'd kicked him in his side, the backlash of her attack, combined with Ichigo's speed, had caused her to crash into one of the larger boulders. She'd been surprised to notice that, on top of her bleeding hand, the right side of her face had taken a heavy hit as well. Blood trickled onto her clothing from underneath her mask, which was covered with big scratches. On some places a few chunks were missing as well.

Despite the fact that she was wounded, Lisa was still happy with the result. Ichigo had received a fair amount of damage from the attack and, even though she hadn't planned on getting hurt herself, she was glad that she was bleeding. It meant that her training had proven successful. He still wasn't there yet, but he was able to give her a challenge now. And that was a whole lot better than the poor boy had shown her on his first day at the Vaizards hideout.

"Stop starin' at nothin' and move yer arse, Lisa! The two of ya are already takin' up more than half of the hideout with yer rash fightin'. Don't it ever occur to ya there're more of us around here?" Hiyori screamed as she walked up to Lisa. Judging by the minor injuries covering her face, it seemed that she'd been fighting a lot today as well.

Lisa cocked her head to the side and removed her Hollow mask. "Shut up. You're annoying, Hiyori," Lisa replied. She thought the noisy behavior of Hiyori extremely irritating. The other Vaizards had only recently started to fight seriously, and Hiyori was already shouting for dominance. Lisa was very grateful for Shinji, though. It seemed he'd given everyone the wake-up call they needed to hear when she was still waiting at Ichigo's house. The tournament he'd organized was a very good idea in her opinion. It gave everyone the opportunity to see what they'd achieved thus far, and what skills they needed to improve before they fought with Aizen.

"Don't'cha talk to me like that! Yer not the only one around here, Lisa."

Lisa sighed. She was too tired to argue. "I'm sorry, Hiyori. I guess Ichigo hit me so hard that I was a little disoriented. I'll go and see how he's doing. He fell asleep against the wall."

"Ichigo did that?" Hiyori asked astonished as she looked at the blood on Lisa's face. She could barely remember the last time Lisa had been bleeding.

"Yes, he did," Lisa said, adding 'indirectly' to it in her mind. "I'll be off now, nap-time is over for Ichigo, I ought to wake him up. Good luck with your battle tomorrow, Hiyori."

Lisa gave Hiyori a wink over her shoulder and stalked off to where Ichigo was lying on the floor. Tomorrow was going to be an interesting day.

---|---

Grumbling, Tatsuki made her way through the empty corridors that connected her quarters to the rest of the Covert Ops. Soifon had paid her a visit more than thirty minutes ago and had told her to take a day off from training. Tatsuki hated it when Soifon told her to take a day off. She always said that when Tatsuki least expected it or when she finally had the feeling her training was going very well. It really hacked her off. Of course she could disobey her orders and go train, anyway. Soifon was attending a meeting for all the Captains and their Vice-Captains that were in Soul Society at the moment, so she wasn't around to stop Tatsuki from training.

The idea was very appealing, but somehow she knew that Soifon must've had her reasons for giving her a day off. Whatever those reasons were, Tatsuki didn't know. Not that she really cared about it, anyway. All she cared about was getting stronger, enabling her to effectively fight against Aizen's forces, and the Covert Ops. She'd thought it a little odd at first, but she'd found herself protecting her own squad when anyone in Soul Society bad-mouthed it, saying the people in the Covert Ops were cowards lurking in the shadow and only came out when they were absolutely certain that they could handle the situation.

The members from the 11th squad were mostly the ones who said that. They thought it weak to fight in the shadow. If you had an enemy you had to attack them head-on. At least, that's what they thought. Tatsuki thought that that was just plain crazy. In her opinion, letting the enemy fear you was much better than just rush into battle, waving with your sword.

Tatsuki had been walking through Soul Society with Soifon when she'd heard two men from the 11th squad bad-mouthing the Covert Ops for the first time. She had wanted to shut the two up right away. Although she hadn't been the bodyguard of Soifon at the time, she was confident in her skills. She would've been able to give the two men a little beating to shut them up, but Soifon had prevented that from happening. She held Tatsuki back and dragged her away from the two men.

At first Tatsuki had been angry at Soifon, but now she knew better. It was useless to get all winded up because of something like that. It was exactly how they wanted you to react.

It had been a good lesson for Tatsuki to encounter this kind of bad-mouthing. In the future there would be a lot of people who would try to get inside her head, simply by talking big, and making her doubt her own skills. The best thing you could do was keep a cool head and ignore them. They would know soon enough not to underestimate you. They could talk shit about her people all they wanted. Tatsuki knew how strong they were, and that the people who talked bad about them didn't know their fighting style at all.

Yes, Tatsuki knew better than them. She was very confident in the skills of her people in the Covert Ops. They weren't really _her_ people, but she'd been considering them as such since she'd been promoted. Technically they were only Soifon's to command, but Tatsuki's relationship with the Covert Ops had increased greatly since she'd gotten here. They respected her almost just as much as they respected Soifon. That made Tatsuki feel good. It gave her even more reason to get stronger. She would protect them with her life, and they her.

Tatsuki smiled as she passed through the gates leading out of the Covert Ops grounds. The two men guarding it bowed lightly as she passed. Tatsuki nodded at the two of them and left.

She broke into a little run as she made her way towards the busier parts of Soul society. Soifon didn't want her to train, but that didn't mean she wasn't allowed to go for a jog. It was just to get a little exercise. She had some time to kill before Soifon would be back from the meeting, anyway.

Unexpected meetings like that tended to drag on and on. Tatsuki guessed it was about the attack on Karakura Town only a few days ago, but she would know for certain when Soifon was back. Yoruichi had told them that she didn't think that anyone had been killed, but Tatsuki would be more at ease if that information was confirmed in the meeting.

Turning to the right, Tatsuki increased her speed. Whenever she started running she would think about the last run she had in the Real World. It had happened all so fast back then. The enormous pressure hanging in the air. Those two Espada who'd suddenly appeared. And then the sharp pain. She'd had the feeling that her soul was being sucked out by the larger of the two. Just before she passed out she'd heard someone calling out to her.

It had been Ichigo who had just arrived at the scene. Tatsuki had came to when a red light was speeding towards her. The last thing she saw before she was ripped out of her body was Ichigo's screaming face and a red orb. Later she'd learned that it was called a Cero. It was a technique used by Arrancar and the Vaizards.

Tatsuki wondered if Ichigo could use a Cero as well. He was one of the Vaizards now after all. He probably couldn't control all his powers yet, but from what she'd heard from Yoruichi Ichigo was being trained by one of the strongest Vaizards. The lucky ass.

Tatsuki increased her speed yet again when she rounded the corner but, as lost in thought a she was, she didn't see that she wasn't the only one out here. She ran into a big wall of meat, causing both of them to fall backwards to the ground.

"Ouch," Omaeda said as his bag of crisps was knocked out of his hand, the content scattering across the floor. "Watch where you're going!"

Tatsuki got up and looked at the pathetic, fat form of Soifon's Vice-Captain, Omaeda. He crawled over the street on his knees, gathering the crisps in his big hands. "Aren't you supposed to be at the meeting, Omaeda?" She asked. "I had the idea it was pretty important."

Omaeda halted the gathering of his crisps. "Meeting? I didn't know there was a meeting going on." He considered her for a moment. "What business of yours is this anyway? Stop meddling with affairs where you don't know anything about."

"Do you even know who I am?" Tatsuki asked, although it sounded more like a threat. She hated it when people acted like she was nothing. Especially if those people themselves didn't do anything to prove themselves whatsoever.

"You're that brat who keeps following my Captain everywhere, right?" He answered. "Why do you keep doing that? Soifon hates it when someone follow her around. I know that better than anyone else."

"You want to know why I keep following my Commander?" Tatsuki rolled her eyes. Was this man really that ignorant? "Because she ordered me to do so, that's why!" Tatsuki flashed him her dark-red leather bracelet, indicating her rank among the Covert Ops. "I'm her personal bodyguard. I'm second in command at the Covert Ops."

Omaeda was silent for a few moments before he spoke again. "Don't make me laugh. A little brat like you, second in command? I'm sure I would've known if someone was promoted in the Covert Ops."

"Then why don't you know of it, Omaeda? Where have you been in the past few days? If I remember correctly you are part of the Patrol Corps."

"Yes, that's right. And it's none of your business where I've been. The low-ranked members don't have to know everything I do all day. I'm a busy man."

"And what is it that you've been doing for important business in the past few days Omaeda?" Soifon asked, startling the big man. She'd appeared out of nowhere and looked at her vice-Captain with her arms crossed over each other.

Omaeda dropped all the crisps he'd gathered to the ground again. His satisfied smirk withered as he looked around and saw Soifon standing there. "Captain! I… I was just."

"Just what Omaeda? I haven't seen you in a while. You didn't even show up at the meeting. Yamamoto was very annoyed that you didn't show up."

"Meeting? I didn't know anything about a meeting!"

"I sent you a message about it. I told you it was a very important meeting, but all you could think about was eating eating and eating! You're a complete disgrace to the Covert Ops, Omaeda!"

"But, Captain I-."

"Put a sock in it," Soifon said as she put a hand over his mouth, causing him to mumble the rest of his excuse. "I'm sick of your behavior." She shoved him to the side, before directing her attention to Tatsuki. "Come, let's go, Tatsuki."

"I don't know what you see in her, Captain. That brat is weak as hell."

Soifon turned back to look at Omaeda, who had continued eating his crisps. "We'll see about that, Omaeda. I thought I taught you never to underestimate anyone. It would do you good to remember that." Soifon turned away from him and made her way towards the covert Ops together with Tatsuki."

---|---

"I really can't stand that man!" Tatsuki grumbled when the gates of the Covert Ops came into view for the second time that day. "All he does is eat and eat. He doesn't do anything to improve himself, but despite that fact he still treats everyone else like they're less than him. He thinks he's better than them. It disgusts me! He even forgot about the meeting, I can't believe he would forget something like that."

Soifon frowned. "Now you mention it. I don't think I told him about the meeting."

"You mean you forgot to tell him?"

"Well, yeah, sort of. But it's his own fault. I haven't seen him in ages."

Tatsuki shook her head. "That's really something for you, Soifon. But I guess you're right; he hasn't been around for quite some time. If you hadn't told me I wouldn't even have known he was part of the Covert Ops."

Silence fell between the two of them as they moved through the maze of corridors and passageways. The question she'd wanted to ask from the moment she saw Soifon was spinning through her head. Tatsuki was afraid of what she might hear.

Although Yoruichi had been quite sure of it, that was no guarantee that there had been no casualties in the Real World. Tatsuki looked at Soifon, who seemed to be deep in thought. Tatsuki hoped that the meeting wasn't the reason for her frown.

Finally unable to keep quite any longer, Tatsuki spoke up. "How'd the meeting go?"

Soifon looked up. "Oh, it was all right. Yamamoto told us what he knew about the attack and what Mayuri had been able to discover from Urahara's field research. It wasn't much really, and I didn't understand half of it. But at least he was able to confirm Yoruichi's information. Toushiro has contacted him and reported that they've been able to kill a few Arrancar. The Espada appeared to be no match for them at all, though. Rukia, Ichigo, his dad, and one of the Vaizards fought against them. Rukia and Ichigo got hurt, but luckily they aren't in any real danger right now."

Tatsuki sighed. "That's a relief, I'd kill Ichigo again if he decided to die right now. And what about the others, are they safe as well?"

"Yeah, everything's fine"

She smiled as the heavy burden of worry, she didn't know she was carrying, lifted from her shoulders. It was a wonderful feeling to know that everyone was all right.

"I got a question, though," Tatsuki said after a while. "What was it you were thinking about just now? You seemed to be really lost in thought."

"I was just thinking some things through." Soifon glanced to the side before she continued. "Say, Tatsuki, what do you think about Omaeda?"

"He's a lazy ass, you know what I think of him, Soifon," Tatsuki replied, not knowing why Soifon suddenly switched back to this topic.

She grinned. "Why don't you do something about it, then?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well, if you get so worked up about his behavior towards everyone else, you could teach him a lesson and at the same time earn something on top of it."

Tatsuki questioningly narrowed her eyes at Soifon. "What are you getting at?"

"After today's meeting, I had a little talk with the Captain-Commander. He wasn't pleased that my Vice-Captain didn't show up at the meeting at all, he told me to make sure he wouldn't miss another one. He said that it is evident that everyone knows what's happening in these times," Soifon said as she entered her quarters, with Tatsuki right behind her.

"What aren't you telling me, Soifon? I know you're holding something back."

Soifon grinned before she continued her story. "After he told me that, I asked Yamamoto if there was any way to replace my Vice-Captain." Soifon urged Tatsuki to sit down. "He told me that it has been a long time since any Vice-Captain has been removed from his post, but that it was possible. In Soul Society you aren't allowed to retire. You can be promoted to a higher station or die, but retiring is out of the question. There is only one way to avoid those rules. It hasn't been used for ages with Vice-Captains, but It's a habit for Captains in the 11th squad. You know about that, right?"

Tatsuki nodded at Soifon. She'd heard about the Captain of the 11th squad, Zaraki, Kenpachi. He had killed the previous Captain, just like that Captain had killed the one before him. They did it all the time. Tatsuki didn't like what Soifon was getting at, though. Was she suggesting that she had to kill Omaeda? Sure, she didn't like the man at all, but to kill him just because of that? That's not something Tatsuki would want to do. Nonetheless, she decided to hear Soifon out before voicing her objections.

"Okay, the idea is pretty much the same. For someone to become a Vice-Captain through this method, he or she has to challenge the current Vice-Captain of that squad and kill him with at least two hundred eyewitnesses from the Vice-Captain's own squad." Soifon laid her hand on Tatsuki's shoulder and looked her right into the eyes. "Tatsuki, do you want to challenge and kill Omaeda to become my Vice-Captain?"

Tatsuki looked back, her face set in determination. She really wanted to become her Vice-Captain, but in order to become one she had to kill an innocent man. Sure, she'd killed before, but this was something else entirely. The ones she'd killed weren't innocent. They were ruthless men who had committed crimes. They weren't some lazy ass with a big mouth.

After a short silence Tatsuki made up her mind. "No."

Soifon smiled. "Good answer."

Tatsuki looked confused. "What do you mean good answer?"

"I didn't tell you everything about it. I wanted to know if you would be able to kill Omaeda in order to become Vice-Captain. If you were able to do so, I would know for sure that you were in the wrong squad and I wouldn't have trusted the position of Vice-Captain to you."

"You see, the Vice-Captains have other rules than the Captains. In order for you to become my Vice-Captain you don't have to kill Omaeda, but you have to challenge and defeat him in front of two hundred eyewitnesses from his squad. Since the Vice-Captains generally change more in ranks, they don't have to kill each other off using this method. Soul Society decided that it would cause too many unnecessary deaths."

"Sneaky fox," Tatsuki said. "Don't test me with things like that. I seriously thought you wanted me to kill Omaeda."

"That was the whole point," Soifon replied. "Do you want to answer my question again, Tatsuki? Do you want to become my Vice-Captain, knowing you don't have to kill him?"

Tatsuki flashed her a broad grin. "Of course. It's time that Omaeda learns his place."

---|---|---

Sorry for the late update!! I've been quite busy in the past two weeks, so this update took longer than I had hoped it would. Nonetheless, I still hope that everyone enjoyed reading this chapter. I'll have a little more time in the next few weeks, so updating should be faster, but I'm not making any promises!

Next chapter the tournament with the Vaizards will finally starts, so you can expect some more action then!

Please R&R!! I want to know how everyone thinks about this chapter, so reviews are much appreciated.

- Yonda


	17. Chapter 17: The day of the bet

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Bleach or any of the characters.

**Chapter 17: The day of the bet**

"Today's the big day, Ichigo," Lisa said smirking as she clapped Ichigo on his back.

Sitting next to a big crack in the wall, Ichigo was panting lightly. He had just finished his morning practice with Lisa. Since the tournament would take place in a little over two hours the training hadn't been too rough, but it had gotten him panting near the end, anyway.

Ichigo didn't understand how Lisa could be so cheerful. Even though he was more confident in his skills than he had been when Lisa made the bet with Hiyori, he still wasn't sure if he could beat the tiny girl. She was very strong in her own right and she'd been training more since Shinji had announced the tournament. Ichigo glanced to the big crack in the wall to the side before answering Lisa. "I'm lucky that I'm even able to attend the tournament. If Inoue hadn't been here, I wouldn't have been able to lift more than my finger." He looked up and shot her a very unconvincing glare. "You got me good yesterday, Lisa. If you're not careful you're really going to kill me one of these days."

"Don't worry Ichigo, you're getting better and better as the time passes. When you first got here, I wouldn't have imagined that you would get me to bleed while I was using my Hollow mask, but now I know better. You've really surprised me in the past few weeks." Lisa grinned. "Especially when you groped me like that when I left the shower. I hadn't thought you would make a move like that one me, Ichigo."

Ichigo scowled. It always went like this with Lisa. It was very rare for her to give a compliment and when she did she just had to humiliate you at the same time. He leaned back against the wall where he'd been knocked unconscious the day before and rubbed his eyes. "Do you always have to bring that up, Lisa? You know I hadn't planned on doing that."

"I know, Ichigo," Lisa said as she gave him a little shove. She watched him as he was leaning against the wall with his eyes closed. He looked so at ease and carefree. Lisa hadn't seen him like that a lot. The only times when he was like that was when he was sleeping or too tired to think. The two of them hadn't talked about it a lot, but Lisa knew that the boy was still very troubled about Tatsuki's death. Lisa had never seen the girl, but what she'd heard about Tatsuki so far was very promising. She didn't seem like the average girl to Lisa and, on top of that, she'd been Ichigo's best friend since they were still children.

Lisa wished she could've met the girl before she had been killed by the Espada. Since she'd been a human, Tatsuki would most likely be in Soul society right now. Lisa knew the chances of her ever finding the girl were slim at best. Life in Rukongai was very harsh, even more so if you had higher than average spiritual powers, which Lisa suspected she had. Nevertheless, it would be awesome if she was able to find the girl when the war was over. Ichigo would certainly like to talk to his childhood friend again.

With a small smile on her lips, Lisa sat down next to him and leaned back against him, closing her eyes just like he had done. Lisa doubted that Ichigo was even aware of the fact that he might be able to see Tatsuki again. He could be so naïve at times. It was a good thing that he didn't know that, though. If he knew, Ichigo would go to Soul Society right away and cause a major scene. He'd just keep raiding the place until he found Tatsuki so he could scold her for dying. Stupid, impulsive brat.

That wasn't the worst of it, though. Ichigo was now one of the Vaizards and they had been banned from Soul Society. Lisa suspected that Yamamoto had set up some tricks that would notify him should any of the Vaizards enter Soul Society. The man should know that they weren't the enemy, but you never knew what he was up to. He shouldn't have thought them enemies all those years ago either, but he hadn't helped them when they were ordered to be executed.

It wouldn't do for them to come to Soul Society unannounced. Somehow, Lisa thought that Yamamoto wanted them dead or at least out of the way for another reason than Central 46. Lisa was certain that Yamamoto didn't think they were Hollows whom needed to be purified. There was more to it than that. If only she knew what it was…

That man was always scheming one thing or another.

"Oi, why are you using me as your pillow?"

Lisa tipped her head back and looked at Ichigo. "Because you're softer than the wall," she stated matter-of-factly.

Ichigo rolled with his eyes. "Right." He pushed her away from him for a moment with one hand and turned his back towards Lisa. Upon seeing what he was trying to do, Lisa let him. When his back was turned they both leaned back against each other.

"You're right," Ichigo said after a while. "You are softer than the wall."

"Don't sound so surprised," Lisa said smirking

Ichigo merely smiled as a comfortable silence settled between the two of them. Lisa really was something. Ichigo remembered the first time he'd seen her. She'd come to his room when he had awoken after his battle with Ulquiorra. She'd scared the shit out of him. The fear she had planted in him that day was reinforced even more in the days thereafter when she'd almost killed Shinji. Yes, he hadn't dared to even come close to her, but then she had suddenly decided to take over his training from Hiyori.

While they had been training, Ichigo's fears got confirmed. She was as evil as she was badass. What he hadn't expected, though, was that she had another side as well. He had caught glimpses of that other side now and then during the training sessions, but he saw more of that when everyone else had already gone to bed. When they were alone she seemed to open up more. She would then show him what Ichigo thought was the real Lisa. He didn't know why she only acted like that when she was alone with him, but he hoped he would get to see that side more often.

The real Lisa was still very badass and evil to the bone, but it was more a sort of game for her now. She was much kinder than she had been when he had first met her, and she was also a little less mysterious. While talking, fighting, and making ridiculous bets with her when she was like that, Ichigo had learned that Lisa trusted him more than anyone else. She showed him who she really was. Ichigo didn't know why he was the one she trusted, but he was. He promised himself that he would never do anything to break that trust she had in him. He wouldn't tell a single soul about the things she wouldn't want others to know just yet.

No, he would never tell anyone about the secrets of the woman who was leaning against his back.

Ichigo's smile withered when images of a laughing Tatsuki entered his mind. Sometimes, he couldn't help but think about Tatsuki when he was with Lisa. The two were a bit alike. Tatsuki also was a bit badass and she would always kick his ass when she was angry or when she just felt like it. When Ichigo was feeling a bit depressed she was always the one who managed to snap him out of it. Ichigo was glad that the two had similarities. Even though she was gone, he could still see a bit of her alive while training with Lisa, but sometimes it still hurt to see how alike they were.

If Tatsuki had been alive she would have kicked his ass and would've told him to go on with his life, but he just couldn't stop thinking about it. At times he wished Tatsuki could still be here to enjoy life with him. Ichigo was sure Tatsuki would've liked to join the tournament as well. She was very strong, but Ichigo sincerely doubted that Tatsuki stood a chance against him and the other Vaizards. No matter how strong Tatsuki had been, she would never have been able to get strong enough to fight their enormous Reiatsu powers. Not unless she became…—

"Do you want to die Ichigo?" Lisa asked, distracting him from his thoughts.

"Sorry?"

"I asked you if you wanted to die."

"Are you crazy? Of course not. Why the hell would I want to die?"

Lisa swatted him on his head. "Then you should stop brooding."

Ichigo scowled. "I'm not brooding."

"Yes you are, you're brooding like a fucking chicken. I can feel you tensing up. If you're not careful you'll lay an egg."

"Don't make such a problem out of it. If I want to brood I will," Ichigo said a little heatedly. If only that woman knew what he was thinking about. "I don't see what the problem is; brooding won't kill me."

"Yes it will. If you keep brooding like this just before entering a fight you'll get distracted. When you are distracted you will make mistakes. When you make mistakes you will get hurt or killed." When Ichigo didn't say anything she continued. "Ichigo, considering everything that has happened in the past weeks I can imagine that you would brood over it, but now is not the time. It is dangerous. I've known many a great Shinigami who have gotten themselves hurt because their minds weren't on the fight at hand, but on the fight they had already finished. You should never dwell on the past. It's unchangeable. All you can do is learn from it, and promise yourself never to make the same mistake again."

When Ichigo still didn't say anything, Lisa reached back with her arms and covered both of his eyes with her hands. "Let it go, Ichigo. Relax. Let your mind go blank. As long as it doesn't affect your fighting skills, you can brood all you want after this tournament is over. Today you won't get in life-threatening situations, but you might another time. If you can't focus yourself then it might be pretty troublesome."

"No life-threatening situations?" Ichigo asked skeptically. "If I have to fight with you I think it'll be pretty life-threatening."

Lisa could feel the smile forming on Ichigo's face underneath her hands. "Got that right," she said as she pulled her arms back. "You got only two hours until you can crush Hiyori, Ichigo. Relax for a bit and don't start brooding again. If I find an egg around here before the tournament is over I'll kick your ass," she said after checking her watch.

"All right, mom," Ichigo said chuckling, earning him an elbow in his side.

---|---

"What's that noise?" Ichigo asked a sleeping Lisa.

He couldn't believe it was time for the tournament already. At least, he thought it was time. It seemed only mere moments ago that he had closed his eyes, leaning his back against Lisa's. But the void of sleep had been broken by an enormous amount of noise, back at the entrance of the underground hideout. Ichigo looked towards the source of the noise as he tried to rub the sleep out of his eyes. He knew that Lisa had told him to get some rest, but he hadn't expected to fall asleep at all. Even though Lisa could drive him up the hall with no effort whatsoever, she still managed to make him feel comfortable and at ease. Enough to make him fall asleep, at least.

That woman had a quality to her Ichigo hadn't seen in anyone else. At first sight she was a woman who you shouldn't mess with. She was outright dangerous, and not much was needed for Lisa to release her anger. But if you got to know her and started to spend some more time together, you would see that that wasn't everything. Lisa was also one of the most caring persons Ichigo knew. She would easily kick your ass if she had a reason for it, but if anything bad happened you, Lisa would do anything she could to stop it. At first it had been quite surprising but now it warmed Ichigo's heart. He knew there had to be something behind that rough personality of hers.

Being able to train with her had been a gift from heaven. She had surprising training methods, which made Ichigo try harder than he always had. It wasn't that he had been training half-assedly before he met Lisa, but her mysterious personality had him trying harder than ever before. Besides that, his determination to avenge Tatsuki was also one of the factors influencing his training. Ichigo would know if it had been successful in a few hours time, but he knew that he had improved quite a bit at least.

And just before he had fallen asleep, Lisa had gotten him out of his depressed state as easily as Tatsuki had always done in the past. That was quite an amazing feat. Ichigo snickered at the irony. The one person who always used to snap him out of his brooding was now the one who caused it.

As he shifted his position, Ichigo scanned the basement, searching for the source of the disturbance. He leaned his back against the wall and laid Lisa, who had been leaning against his back, in his lap. He couldn't help but smile to himself. It seemed he had found what was behind that rough personality of Lisa. She looked so peaceful and content, laying in his lap. It'd be a miracle if Ichigo ever got her to express such a gentle smile when she was awake. It wouldn't hurt to try, though.

Ichigo tore his gaze away from the sleeping Lisa in his lap and directed his attention towards the entrance of the hideout yet again. He could just make out the form of Shinji, who seemed to be talking with someone else whom was obstructed from view by the rocks. Well, talking wasn't really what they were doing. It sounded more like screaming, but seeing Shinji act so calm, Ichigo didn't think that there was any real trouble.

Although he couldn't quite place it, the shouts did sound somewhat familiar. Ichigo figured it was Hiyori, releasing some of her pent up frustrations before she had to fight. Ichigo decided that there wasn't anything wrong and wanted to lean back against the wall to get some more rest when, suddenly, a cloud of dust and sand rose up from behind the rocks. Together with the screaming the cloud seemed to be headed to their position. What was it that Hiyori would want from them? If it was time already, Hiyori could just go and tell them instead of making such a ruckus. So why was she coming to them. Had something happened?

"Stop moving so much, Ichigo. I want to sleep," Lisa mumbled as she shifted in Ichigo's lap.

"Now's not the time to sleep, Lisa," Ichigo said as he poked her forehead. "I think Hiyori is coming this way. It looks like something happened or maybe she just likes to cause a ruckus."

Her eyes shot open and her face, which had been so peaceful only a moment ago, was set in a menacing scowl. "I told you to go back to sleep, Ichigo," she said, although it sounded more like an order.

Ichigo gulped. "Yes, I know that, but Hiyori─"

"The one who is coming to us isn't Hiyori. It's Isshin."

"What! My dad's here for the tournament?" Ichigo yelled, the cloud of dust drawing ever closer.

"Yes, he's coming here for the tournament together with you sisters."

"What!" Ichigo yelled again. "My dad and my sisters are going to fight in the tournament as well? Are they nuts?"

"Of course not, idiot." Lisa gave him a sly smile. "They'll be the ones who're going to heal everyone who has to fight with me."

"Great," Ichigo said, rolling with his eyes. "I'm looking forward to it."

"Good."

"I have a question, though," Ichigo said after a while, averting his gaze from Lisa who was still lying in his lap. "It's not that I don't want to see them, but why are they here? I thought that all the Vaizards were kind of uncomfortable with outsiders. I think that Inoue is more than capable enough to take care of the injuries."

Lisa smiled. "Yes, it's true that most of us aren't too keen to outsiders, but Shinji thought that it was a good idea to invite them. And I have to say that I agree with him. Somehow they've wormed themselves into our hideout together with Rukia. You got good friends, Ichigo. There hasn't been a single outsider in our hideout since we came to Karakura Town, but since you became a Vaizard things have started to change. I think that, thanks to you, everyone is starting to accept that not everyone wants us to die as filthy Hollows. Not everyone thinks the same as Shinji and me, but I hope that they will in the future. You've given us the opportunity to do what we've secretly always wanted to do, but couldn't. Together with Shinji we can change the Vaizards, Ichigo. I think that only by doing that we will have a chance to defeat Aizen."

"I think you're giving me to much credit for this, Lisa," Ichigo said, surprised by the praise. "You and Shinji are the ones who started all of this. That speech that Shinji gave when we were still at my house wasn't my idea, but Shinji's. And he came to that conclusion because of you. At least, that's what he told me when I got back here and said that there was going to be a whole tournament instead of just one match. I think that that speech has given everyone a little push in the good direction. I hope we can push them all the way there together, but, just because they are my relatives, doesn't mean that it's all thanks to me. Nevertheless, it'll be for the best if the Vaizards are going to work together with Soul Society. Together we will be stronger against Aizen."

Lisa rolled her eyes. "Idiot Ichigo. You're forgetting the most important thing. It's true that Shinji's speech made everyone think about our current situation and it's also true that he started thinking along these lines because of me, but you are the one who made me realize those things. Because of you I started opening up to not only your sisters, but also your dad and Rukia who are Shinigami. Before I met you I wouldn't have thought that I would ever be able to get friendly with a Shinigami again. You dragged me out of my black-and-white vision what that stupid, annoying grin of yours and brought colour to my life. I can't thank you enough for that, Ichigo."

Ichigo smiled a bit uneasily as he leaned to the side, causing the screaming cloud of sand and dust, which represented Isshin, to crash into the wall, making the crack that had been there since Ichigo's training with Lisa the day before even bigger. "I'm glad you think like that, Lisa," Ichigo continued as if nothing had happened. "I still think you're praising me a bit too much, but I hope we can work on this together with Shinji from now on. I want you to know that you've also changed my life, though. I'm glad that you started training me, not only because you taught me how to fight, but also because you helped me with the death of Tatsuki. She's been my best friend for as long as I can remember and I'm not very good with important people dying on me. I did some silly things when my mom died, but this time I didn't. I don't know what I would've done if you weren't there to keep me busy. I probably would've gone to Hueco Mundo and charge straight through the front gate."

Lisa chuckled. "I'm glad we can help each other like this, Ichigo. I'll make sure you don't do anything stupid like that, if you help me and Shinji convincing the other Vaizards that not all Shinigami are shit. Don't think I will go easy on you now, though, Ichigo," Lisa said, ignoring a whining Isshin who had just become one with the wall. "I'm going to mop the floor with you the next time we fight each other."

Ichigo grinned. That was Lisa all right. "If you want to do that you will have to survive until the final round."

"It's a promise then."

"C'mon, let's go, Lisa. I think the tournament is almost starting."

"Yes, it won't be long before it starts," Lisa said as the two of them got up.

"See you, dad," Ichigo said as the two of them moved away from Isshin's still form. "It's good to have you with us."

---|---

"Why, exactly, did I have to come with you, Captain?" Omaeda asked as he tried to keep up with the brisk pace of his captain. "And why is _she_ here as well? You're giving her way too much freedom," he went on, pointing at Tatsuki, walking next to Soifon. This morning Soifon and Tatsuki had come by his quarters and had told him to follow them. Omaeda had both been pleased and surprised that they had visited him in his quarters. He didn't like it that Tatsuki had come to his quarters as well, but he couldn't even remember the last time he'd seen his captain even near his quarters. There must be something special going on for her to come to his quarters, even if she'd brought that brat with her.

The last time Soifon had come to see him in his quarters was probably when she had appointed him to his quarters. Since he'd been appointed to his post of Vice-Captain, Soifon hadn't even once gone to his quarters to ask for assistance with something, or to give him the details for a meeting scheduled later on in the week. Soifon had even forgotten to tell him about the unexpected meeting the day before. Of course, Omaeda had done everything he could to gain her favor, but it was to no avail. She only thought of him as a nuisance, and the feeling of uselessness had only worsened since Soifon had found Tatsuki in Rukongai.

Ever since that girl had set foot in Soul Society, she had caused him nothing but trouble. Her arrogance was unbelievable. She strutted around the place like she owned it. Omaeda didn't ignore the possibility that the girl might have something special he didn't have. To be noticed by Soifon was very rare indeed, but it couldn't be that Tatsuki was that much stronger than he was. She hadn't even gone to the Academy before she met Soifon and she wasn't even in a real squad, either.

Nowadays, the Covert Ops was considered a part of the Gotei-13, but it was, as it always had been, a separate organization. So, unlike Omaeda who was also part of the 2nd squad, Tatsuki was only part of a side-branch of the Gotei-13.

And in the Covert Ops, Tatsuki hadn't even managed to get a real title. She only had the self-proclaimed title of Soifon's bodyguard. It wasn't even a real position in the Covert Ops. It was just something that Yoruichi had made up when she was still the Commander and Soifon had taken that over from her idol. Tatsuki was just the lapdog of Soifon who walked beside her on a leash, ready to please her master. She wasn't anything special at all. Just a regular Covert Ops member…

Why then, if that was true, had Tatsuki managed to get more respect from the members of the Covert Ops in one month's time than he, the Corps Commander of the Patrol Corps?

Omaeda didn't know the answer to that question, but he had a feeling that he would soon enough. The more he thought about that question, which kept spinning through his head, the more he realized that his Captain and her bodyguard, Tatsuki, were up to something. He was certain of that. He also knew that he wasn't going to like whatever it was they had in store for him. Soifon was probably going to yell at him again and if he had bad luck she would kick his ass on top of that.

He hated it when she did that, but Omaeda guessed that Soifon had a good reason to act like that this time. He'd been troubled ever since the human girl had showed up in Soul Society and because of that he had neglected the responsibilities he had as a Vice-Captain. He had been slacking off in the past few weeks. Big stacks of paperwork lay, untouched, on top of his desk. Together with yesterday's meeting he had missed two meetings already and he hadn't even gone to the Covert Ops grounds to check up on his Patrol Corps. Besides all of that he had even stopped his own training and had been eating his frustration away. The Captain-Commander wasn't going to like his behavior. He was a disgrace.

He sighed as he increased his speed a little so he could catch up with the two woman in front of him. Omaeda wanted to be mad at Tatsuki. He wanted to yell and scream at her for ruining everything for him, but he knew he couldn't do that. He had always blamed others for his own faults. He had always made his own squad or Patrol Corps pay for everything that went wrong because of him. He wanted no more of that. There was a war going on and he was just slacking off and blaming other people.

As he drew closer to her, Omaeda carefully studied Tatsuki. She seemed to able to keep up with the pace Soifon had set without any difficulty whatsoever. This was the first time Omaeda had looked at the girl without his hate towards her distorting his vision and he was surprised at what he saw. Instead of an arrogant, stuck up bitch he saw a hardworking girl who would die to protect the ones close to her.

Even from the back Tatsuki looked confident as she walked next to Soifon. She walked with a straight back and her head held high. She had an air of authority around her he hadn't expected her to have. It seemed that Tatsuki took her role as bodyguard very serious. Her dark, spiky hair stood on end just above the black headband he'd seen her wear the day before. She was completely covered in black clothes just like the other Covert Ops members. The only thing that stood out was her dark-red, leather bracelet on her left arm which, according to her, indicated her position as the bodyguard of the Covert Ops Commander.

Looking at her, Omaeda saw why Soifon picked her up that day in Rukongai. Tatsuki was very determined and protective and reminded Omaeda a bit of how Soifon was when Yoruichi had left her behind all those years ago. At that time Soifon had been extremely determined to get revenge on Yoruichi for abandoning her and had channeled that determination into her training.

And now she was letting Tatsuki do the exact same thing. Omaeda had never seen Tatsuki train, but he just knew that Tatsuki was the same as Soifon in that aspect. He hoped she wouldn't get as scary as Soifon, though.

Omaeda made up his mind. He decided that he wouldn't judge Tatsuki for trying her best to do her part in the war. She was giving everything she had to earn the position she had right now and he didn't do anything. If there was one person who should be judged badly by his behavior it was him. He wanted to move forward with a clean sheet and do as he was supposed to do. If he survived whatever it was that Tatsuki and Soifon had in store for him he would put his all into the upcoming war. He would start training himself again and he would bully his patrol Squad until they couldn't even lift a finger.

With renewed determination, Omaeda broke into a run and sped past his Captain and Tatsuki. "Is that all the strength you've got in those legs of yours, Tatsuki?" he yelled, increasing the distance between them. "My grandmother could run faster, you should be ashamed of yourself!"

"What's gotten to him?" Tatsuki asked Soifon perplexed. "I think this is the first time I've seen him run."

"Just ignore that fat oaf, Tatsuki," Soifon said. "The bigger his mouth gets, the faster he runs, that's his only skill. He's just trying to get on your nerves. He does that all the time with me, following me around like a little kid, shouting bold things like this."

Tatsuki grinned. "Like I'm going to ignore someone who steps on my pride and challenges me like that. He's dead meat when I'm finished with him," Tatsuki said as she chased after him, leaving Soifon behind.

"Unbelievable," Soifon sighed. "She's only been here for one month and she already got him to exercise more than I have been able to in eighty years' time."

---|---

"Let me explain the details first," Shinji said once everyone had gathered in front of him. He stood on the same low plateau where he had been standing on when he had first told everyone about the tournament. Ever since that moment all the Vaizard had been training and developing strategies for their possible opponents in the tournament. This was not only so they could find ways to avoid their strengths, but also to discover the weaknesses of others. If you knew their weaknesses, you would be more able to help them and work together when it was needed in the future. Shinji always thought that knowing your own weakness was your greatest strength in battle.

"As all of you might've noticed by now," he continued when he was sure that he had gotten everyone's attention, "there are some guests here today." Shinji gestured around, waving his hand in the direction of Isshin, Karin, Yuzu and Rukia, standing to the side with Ichigo, Lisa and Inoue. The rest of the Vaizards were standing at the other side, closer to Shinji. They didn't know whether they could trust the newcomers or not.

"I want everyone to consider them as our friends. Ichigo's father, Isshin and his daughters, Karin and Yuzu helped me and Lisa when we were hurt after the battle in Karakura Town a few days earlier. If not for them I wouldn't be here right now."

Some of the Vaizards were surprised to hear that Isshin, Karin, and Yuzu had helped Shinji, but Kensei, Hiyori and Mashiro didn't look like they wanted to welcome the new guests with open arms at all. Lisa, however, was comfortable enough to stand with the guests. It could be that because they were relatives of Ichigo she tried to be nice to them, but the youngest daughter, Yuzu, held Lisa's arm as if she was a long lost sister. Lisa looked a little bit awkward but, apart from that, she didn't show any discomfort. That really was a surprising development.

"Anyway," Shinji continued, ignoring the glares from several Vaizards directed to him. "They're not here just to watch the tournament. They will be helping us as well. I thought it would be an advantage for me if I knew who would be fighting who beforehand. I don't want anyone to have an advantage like that, so I told Isshin who would be fighting in the tournament and I asked him if he could organize the matches. That's not the only thing he's going to do, though. Besides organizing the matches, Isshin will also be the referee of the matches and, if needed, he will also help Hachigen with the barriers and the healing work that has to be done together with his daughters."

"Why's Hachigen not fighting with us?" Hiyori suddenly asked, not able to keep quiet anymore.

"I think that he will find it hard enough to keep the barrier up while we're fighting each other. Apart from him, all the other Vaizards will be attending the tournament together with Rukia and Inoue, though. If you really want to give Hachigen a good practice, you could try to knock your opponent through the barrier. I don't think you'll be able to do that, though. Hachigen will be using stronger barriers than when we're just practicing and if he's having trouble, Isshin or his daughters could help him to establish the barrier. I've heard that they are quite capable with Kidou."

"Eeh? Is Ichigo not joining the tournament? That was the only reason I agreed to this whole thing," Hiyori said, scowling.

"Of course he is, stupid. The match between the two of you is the only one Isshin wasn't allowed to change."

"But you said that only Inoue and that Shinigami would join us," she insisted, pointing at Rukia.

"Yes, that's true, but Ichigo is also one of us now. He is a Vaizard, Hiyori. No matter how much you'd like to ignore it, the fact remains that he has Hollow powers and a mask he can keep on, just like all the other Vaizards can."

Ichigo glanced to Lisa, standing next to him. She gave him an encouraging wink, which he returned with a smile. He had never really thought about it, but Shinji was right. He was a Vaizard now. Since he'd started training here, he'd known that he was working towards this. He did all that work not only to prepare himself for the war, but also to become a Vaizard. He didn't know why, but somehow Shinji's words made it more real. As if he had suddenly come a lot closer towards his goal. It made him happy that Shinji thought of him as a Vaizard.

He knew, though, that he still had a long way to go before he could master all his Hollow powers. Only if he was able to do that, he could face the Espada with a chance of beating them in a fight. That was what he wanted. He wanted to protect his loved ones around him and he wanted to avenge those who were not here because of Aizen. And for that reason he was training and fighting so he could control his Hollow powers and grow stronger with them.

"I will never accept a brat like him as one of us," Hiyori muttered under her breath.

"Isshin, why don't you explain us the rest of the details?" Shinji asked, ignoring Hiyori's muttering.

"All right," Isshin said, getting straight to the point. "This tournament will be divided in several rounds. Firstly the entrance round, then round-A and round-B and lastly the final round. After the entrance round, all the winners and losers of the battles are divided in two different rounds. The ones who lost their battle will participate in the B-round and the ones who won their battle will fight in the A-round. When the battles in the entrance round are finished, the B-round will start."

"They will fight until only one person remains. That person will also be able to participate in the A-round. He or she will fight with the winners of the entrance round. The winner of the B-rounds will still be eligible to become the champion of this tournament and will fight until he or she is defeated or until he wins the final round.

"Depending on how these rounds go, I might decide to spread the battles over two or even three days. But it's also possible that one day will be enough for this tournament." Isshin glanced around and let his words sink in before he continued. "I set up the battles of the entrance round, but after that your opponents will be chosen randomly." As Isshin said that he walked to the back of the plateau where Shinji was now sitting on and returned a few moments later with a small blackboard. The matches of the first round could be seen as Isshin pinned it at the front of the plateau. The words seemed to be burned in the blackboard with Kidou spells and gave off a yellow light.

_Entrance round:_

_Battle 1: Hiyori vs Ichigo_

_Battle 2: Rose vs Kensei_

_Battle 3: Lisa vs Rukia_

_Battle 4: Mashiro vs Inoue_

_Battle 5: Shinji vs Love_

The other rounds were still empty.

"Although Shinji wants the battles to be as realistic as possible, we figured it would be better if we applied a few minor rules: firstly, you're not allowed to release your Zanpakutou. If you fight with only your sealed Zanpakutou you will learn to think while fighting and thus you won't rely on sheer force alone. There will be situations when you won't be able to use your Zanpakutou in battle, so it's very useful to learn how to fight without depending on it.

"Secondly, the use of Kidou above level fifty is prohibited. We want to learn how to fight better with this tournament, therefore it would be unwise to unleash Kidou powers which could easily destroy this entire hideout in a matter of seconds. For the rest you're allowed to do everything, but keep in mind that your opponents aren't your enemies, so I don't want to see any dirty fighting."

"Thank you, Isshin," Shinji said, standing up again. "I think that everything will be clear now. I would like to add one more thing, though. Even though Hachigen will be sealing off one side of the hideout to give the participants room to fight, you are allowed to try and break through the barrier before the battle is over. This will give both Hachigen and the ones who are fighting a good practice. I don't think anyone will be able to break through it, but it doesn't hurt to try."

As he glanced over the small crowd in front of him, Shinji was pleased to notice that most of the Vaizards seemed to accept the rules he and Isshin had set up for the tournament. At first, Isshin hadn't wanted to be the one to tell them the rules. He knew about their hatred towards Shinigami and didn't want to make them uncomfortable, but Shinji hadn't wanted to hear a thing about it. He had told him that he wanted a Shinigami to tell them what to do for future purposes. Isshin was just what Shinji needed. At times he would act like a moron and do all kind of insensible things just to make Yuzu smile, while, at the next instant, he could turn dead serious. Sometimes, Shinji wondered if Isshin had a split personality. It was perfect for what he wanted.

Shinji smiled as he caught Lisa's gaze and quick nod. They were slowly getting somewhere. He hoped that Isshin would be able to break through to the Vaizards and let them get comfortable with him. He was certain that most of them would be able to do so in the end, but he was a little worried about Hiyori, Mashiro and Kensei. If this didn't work, he had to try something else to loosen them up a little bit.

"Oh, before I forget," Isshin suddenly said, getting everyone's attention. "The winner of this tournament will receive a prize from Shinji, but I also have a prize to give away." Isshin held something that looked like an old photo-album in the air. "The winner will also receive this album," he announced. "In this album are all the photo's from when Ichigo was still a small crybaby!"

"What!?" Ichigo yelled. "Don't go around and show those pictures to everyone. What the hell are you thinking, old man!" Ichigo charged at his dad and tried to grab the album from him as a few of the Vaizards snickered.

Chuckling, Shinji shook his head. It had been a good thing to ask Isshin to do this. He had a knack for stuff like this, promising them weird prizes was just what they needed. Most of the Vaizards seemed to be amused by it and even the corner of Hiyori's mouth twitched, but she hid it quickly again. She looked like she wanted to win the tournament so she could get that album. She had just started to like the man, even if it was just a little bit. At any rate, she would give it her all to get his prize. She was going to work for a Shinigami so she would be acknowledged by him and earn a prize. Who would've thought.

Mashiro and Kensei, on the other hand, didn't seem amused by it at all. They needed another approach. Shinji wondered who could get those two to lighten their moods. He sighed and decided to let that matter rest for the moment. He glanced over to Isshin and Ichigo who were still fighting over the album. When he caught sight of Lisa, her eyes were big with anticipation and the determined grin on her face was hilarious. She looked at the photo-album with those hungry eyes of hers. Once Lisa set her sight on something, she wouldn't stop before she had what she wanted.

"Just what we need," Shinji said to no one in particular, "a Lisa who is more determined than usual. This is going to be one hell of a tournament."

---|---

Standing in front of the barrier, Ichigo glanced to the side, where Hiyori was staring into nothingness. Since it was announced that the two of them had to fight right of the bat, she'd been unusually quiet. The two of them had been waiting to fight for another twenty minutes already. Hachigen had been working on the barrier and Ichigo's dad had set up a small infirmary together with Karin and Yuzu during that time. Ichigo was glad that everyone took this tournament very serious, but he hoped that they didn't have to use the infirmary a lot.

Hachigen would have a tough time ahead of him. He'd been very busy with the barrier already, and the tournament hadn't even started yet. This was the first time Ichigo had seen him working on such a complex barrier. It looked like the entire basement had been split in half. A shimmering light was cast against the length of the barrier. At first it had been completely transparent, but it was starting to become more evident now. As Hachigen had been working on strengthening it, a vibrant yellowish color had enveloped the barrier, indicating that it was getting stronger and stronger.

After it was tested for flaws and errors for the last time, it would be time for the very first match of the tournament.

Shinji had told them that it would be very hard to break through the barrier. By seeing how thorough the testing procedures were, Ichigo had to agree with him. It looked very strong indeed.

Even though Hachigen didn't join the fight of the tournament, Ichigo didn't think he was lacking in training at all. He was sure that Hachigen would receive more training from this tournament than all of them together. Just setting up the barrier had been very tiring for the man, but he couldn't rest now. It had just started for him. As long as the tournament lasted, Hachigen had to keep strengthening it and make sure that small cracks and disturbances were repaired before anything could happen to the barrier.

This wasn't only for the safety of the audience, but also to test Hachigen's own skills.

Finally unable to take the eerie silence any longer, Ichigo moved away from Hiyori, and made his way towards the small infirmary, which lay protected between a few big rocks where Ichigo used to train his left arm together with Lisa. She'd thought it was a brilliant idea to make him ambidextrous.

Just remembering the harsh training brought smile to his face. Lisa had bound his right arm behind his back and ordered him to hit boulders with his left hand. Boulders of all things! You had to be pretty insane to go along with that nutter, but Ichigo had and, somehow, it had worked out pretty well in the end. It had cost him quite a bit, though.

Many a night, Ichigo had lain in his bed, clutching his sore knuckles, unable to fall asleep because of the stinging pain coursing through his entire arm. Hitting a boulder like that just couldn't be healthy, but somehow he had kept at it, just as Lisa had ordered him to do. Every time Ichigo was close to giving up on it, Lisa came up to him and made some ridiculous bet he just couldn't resist taking. Why he accepted them, Ichigo still didn't know. He had never won a single one of those bets, but somehow they had kept him going on. Ichigo thought that he had secretly been waiting for new bets as he kept molesting the boulders.

His determination to go on had finally won it from his urge to quit with the crazy training right away, and Ichigo had been getting better and better. That was until he suddenly came up against a few strengthened boulders. He hadn't known the boulders were strengthened and Ichigo had gone all out on them. In doing so, he had shattered his left hand. For a moment, Ichigo had thought it was beyond repair, but just then Inoue had showed up and healed it.

He didn't know what kind of power she had with those hairpins, but it seemed to be more powerful than Inoue thought it was. There was more to it than just healing wounds. Hachigen had also figured that out. It was most likely also the reason why he had started training with her.

Ichigo laid both of his hands against one of the rocks that had survived his training. His hands showed how hard his training had been. At least, his left hand did. His right was completely unblemished, but his left hand was covered in tiny scars and was also much coarser than his right hand. He wondered if Lisa's hands showed those scars as well. She had also trained very hard to become ambidextrous, so he figured that she had the scars to prove it, even though he hadn't seen them yet.

"What're you doing here, Ichigo?" Lisa asked. "It's almost time for your battle to begin."

"I know," Ichigo said, turning around. "I was just thinking about that rock-crazy training of yours. I don't know why I went along with it, but I'm glad I did. Thanks to you I've been able to get a lot stronger and on top of that I've been able to break my hand like ten times and I've even shattered it once." A boyish grin covered Ichigo's face as he continued. "I've been wanting to thank you for that, Lisa. I've always wanted to know what it feels like if you shatter your own hand against a huge boulder. It was an… enlightening experience, so to speak."

Lisa grinned. "Anytime."

"I've got something for you," Lisa said after a while, breaking the comfortable silence that had settled between the two of them.

"For me?" Ichigo asked surprised.

"Yes, I think you've deserved it. You worked very hard for this day. Even though you didn't like my methods in the beginning you just kept going. This shows me how determined you are to grow stronger. I respect that," she said as she handed him a pair of gloves.

"Wow, thank you, Lisa," Ichigo said as he inspected them. The smooth fingerless gloves were shadowy black. The supple leather felt cool against his skin as he wriggled his hands into the gloves. They fit perfectly. Ichigo clenched his fist and saw that there was something written in dark green letters on his left glove.

_Make me proud._

Ichigo swallowed heavily as he read those words. Lisa wasn't someone who easily complimented you, or said things like that. That's what made these gloves all the more special to Ichigo. He traced the words with his finger as if trying to feel the emotion behind those three simple words. Ichigo vowed to himself that he would never take his gloves off, no matter what the circumstances were.

"I hope you like them," Lisa said a bit uneasily, not sure what she should say. "I didn't really know what I had to give to you. I wanted something to encourage you during this tournament and beyond. I hope it worked out well, but if you don't like it I can give you something else."

She looked up, afraid at what Ichigo might say, afraid that he didn't like it, when he suddenly gave her bone-crushing hug.

"Thank you, Lisa," he said. "This means more to me than you could ever know."

"That's good," she mumbled, returning the hug.

---|---

"Before you go in," Isshin said, "I think it's wise to explain the rules one more time."

Both Ichigo and Hiyori simply nodded. They couldn't summon the energy to tell Isshin that they knew the rules already since he'd told them the rules less than one hour ago. The two of them were tense with nervousness. They had been waiting for this moment for a month. It was finally time to see who was stronger.

"Both of you are allowed to use your Zanpakutou," Isshin said. "You are, however, not allowed to release it. Kidou spells above level 50 are also prohibited, but I think the two of you don't particularly like to use those in battle, anyway. Since you are Vaizards, you are allowed to use your Hollow mask, but keep in mind that this is a friendly match. Don't do anything too dangerous, or I will stop the match. Besides this, there are no actual rules. You fight until one of you gives up or is knocked unconscious, but if I decide that the battle is over and declare a winner you aren't allowed to keep fighting, even if you think that you can still fight."

Isshin clapped them both on their backs as the barrier opened up to reveal a small passageway, which would lead them through the barrier. "Just give it your all, use your head, and try to learn as much as possible from the battle. I don't give my precious photo-album to stupid fighters," Isshin said grinning. He looked them both in the eyes once more and pushed them forward, towards the passageway. "Good luck and don't do anything stupid, especially you, Ichigo," he called after them.

Inside, they immediately jumped away from each other, creating a distance between them. They didn't trust each other and didn't want to be taken by surprise.

Ichigo clenched his left fist again so he could feel the supple, smooth leather, stretching tight against his knuckles. He glanced at the three words on his glove for the umpteenth time since he'd gotten them from Lisa just a few moments ago.

_Make me proud._

Ichigo grinned. He would certainly make her proud. Everyone was going to watch this battle, he wouldn't disappoint her by losing to Hiyori.

"What'cha grinnin' at?" Hiyori growled as she tightly gripped her sword in her right hand and charged forward. "Can't ya have a normal face for once? Just lookin' at it creeps me out!"

"Hiyori," Ichigo asked as he jumped to the side, avoiding her sword. "Why do you hate me so much?"

"'Cause the mere sight of ya pisses me off. Ya can't do nothin' yourself, always dependin' on others ta do stuff for ya!"

Ichigo groaned inwardly. He had promised Lisa that he would help her and Shinji with convincing the other Vaizards to open up a little more to outsiders, but Hiyori didn't even consider him as one of the Vaizards. It was no use by trying to convince her right now. She wouldn't listen to anything he said, anyway. Besides that this wasn't really the time and place to talk about things like that, it was too early for Hiyori. Maybe she would be more willing to talk about this after the tournament was over.

"I don't have any grudge against you, Hiyori, but I'm going to have to crush you right now. This way you will see that I am quite capable of doing things on my own without depending on others," Ichigo said as he grabbed his sword and unsheathed it from its scabbard, hanging at his hip.

"Stop the chitchat and show me what you're worth, Ichigo. I ain't gonna wait forever."

"Good," Ichigo said, "that means I can go all out."

He jumped forward and, just before he reached her, his Hollow mask suddenly formed, causing his speed to increase considerably. Hiyori, who hadn't been expecting this, was only barely able to block the attack with her sword. She had to use both of her hands to block his attack, powered by his inner Hollow. Her boots scraped over the floor as she was being pushed backwards when Ichigo used more force behind his attack. Finally unable to hold it any longer, Hiyori violently pushed against his sword and jumped to the side.

The tip of Ichigo's sword whistled past her face and grazed her shoulder, drawing a little blood. Upon seeing that the wound wasn't deep, Hiyori got back in her fighting position. The boy had grown a lot over the past month, it wouldn't do to underestimate him. The time when he couldn't keep his mask on for longer than a few seconds had long since passed. Lisa had turned him in a fighting machine.

Deciding it was time to show Ichigo who was the best of the two, Hiyori called forth her Hollow powers. Her skeletal-like mask appeared, together with a wicked grin.

Not wasting any second, Hiyori went straight into the offensive. With the use of Shunpo, she dashed around Ichigo and struck him when she thought she could break through his guard.

When Ichigo saw her dashing around him, she reminded him of a snake, slithering around her target, waiting for a chance to strike at lightning speed and embed her poisonous fangs into you. The only thing she missed was the lightning speed. She was quick, but it was no match for Ichigo's speed. During the time he had been training under Lisa, the main attribute he had developed was his speed. Ichigo was certain that, of all the people gathered here, only Lisa could beat his speed.

Ichigo saw Hiyori preparing to strike in the corner of his eye. He twirled around on his spot and countered the attack with his sword. Tiny sparks shot of his sword as their blades met. Without losing any speed, Ichigo continued his attack and hit Hiyori in her face with his foot. The force of the attack sent her flying into one of the smaller rock formations. A loud crash could be heard as she impacted.

"That must've hurt," Ichigo mumbled before glancing around at the barrier. From the inside it was impossible to look through the barrier. Ichigo guessed that Hachigen had done this so that the fighters could concentrate themselves better on the fight at hand. He couldn't see who was watching the battle or where they were, but most likely everyone was watching right now. After all, this fight was the reason for the entire tournament.

"If ya got time ta look away you should use that for fightin' me. I ain't nearly done with you!" Hiyori yelled as she brought her sword down. Ichigo quickly tried to block it, but he only partly succeeded. Her sword left a shallow cut on his left shoulder.

He cursed himself for dropping his guard like that. He thought that Hiyori was still lying on the floor, but she had recovered quicker than he'd thought she would. Mad at himself for acting so stupid, Ichigo pressured Hiyori by attacking her relentlessly. Their blades clashed and clanged as Hiyori was slowly driven into the corner. She had sustained a lot more damage than he had. Her breath came in ragged pants and her mask and hair were covered with sand and tiny pieces of rock. A few cracks had also appeared on her mask, indicating that she was slowly losing her Hollow powers.

He knew he wasn't nearly done yet, though. Hiyori was tough and she was determined to beat him. But so was he.

Hiyori had difficulties keeping up with the speed of Ichigo's attacks. He kept going at an incredible speed. His sword flashed in front of her face as she kept blocking his attacks. She couldn't keep this up forever. Her arms were slowly getting tired from absorbing Ichigo's powerful attacks. Seeing no other way out, she opened her mouth and focused her power into a Cero. She didn't have enough time to make it big enough to blast Ichigo away, but by firing it into the ground between them she was able to escape in the confusion.

Ichigo had a few cuts on his legs from the flying pieces of stone. He hadn't expected her to use a Cero like that, but it had worked out for her anyway. The small girl was quick and could save herself from a tight spot without too much trouble.

When the dust of the small explosion near his feet cleared, Ichigo glanced around, looking for Hiyori. She was nowhere to be found. "Damn it," Ichigo cursed, "she's like a fucking rat in the sewers."

He didn't dare to stay in the same spot for a long period of time, so he dashed around the basement at an incredible speed, while avoiding the rock formations scattered all over the place. The basement was a big place and even though they were only using half of it, there were still many places where she could hide. He cursed his inability to sense her Reiatsu pattern as he searched for her. When he wasn't fighting he could accomplish some sensing, but while fighting it was just impossible for him. That was something he really needed to work on.

After a short while, he finally spotted the sleeve of her red jacket behind a large boulder. Ichigo wasted no time and rushed towards it with his sword at the ready. He burst straight through the boulder, but the jacket was empty. Ichigo, sensing danger, wanted jump away from the boulder right away, but he was too late. Hiyori, hiding behind a small pillar inside the rock formation, cut him in the back, leaving a long gash between his shoulder blades. A red stain was quickly spreading on his ripped clothing.

After screaming out in pain, Ichigo reacted immediately by thrusting the hilt of his sword backwards in Hiyori's face. Big chunks of her mask fell to the ground. Ichigo saw blood running from her forehead towards her chin as he turned around. Only her right eye and a part of her jaw was still covered by the white mask. Before she could do anything to counter his attack, Ichigo struck for a second time. His elbow slammed her on the right side of her face, slamming her head sideways into the pillar. The remaining pieces of her mask shattered to tiny pieces.

Dizzy from the shock and pain, Hiyori staggered and dropped her sword to the floor. The second blow on her head had made her lightheaded and she couldn't focus her eyes on him anymore. Her vision was blurry. She fell backwards and expected to hit the hard rocks, but instead of feeling the ground, she felt Ichigo's soft arms.

"I think this is enough," Ichigo said as he caught her and laid her against the rocks so she could regain her focus.

"I guess Lisa's a better teacher than me, huh," she slurred, blinking with her eyes. "I'm glad she took over, I would never have been able ta make ya this strong in a mere month."

Ichigo smiled at her. Was this really what had bothered her all this time? Was she jealous at Lisa for being a better teacher? "What're you talking about, stupid," he said. "It's because of you I got this strong. Because I wanted to beat you so badly I agreed to do the ridiculous training Lisa suggested."

"Still," she replied as she closed her eyes and rubbed her temples. "In the time I've been trainin' ya I didn't teach ya anythin'."

Ichigo chuckled. "Okay, maybe you're right. You weren't that great of a teacher." When she glared at him Ichigo hastily continued. "You're much better than a teacher."

"What do ya mean?"

"As a rival you've helped me to get stronger. After all, I've learned a lot of things from you while I was fighting with you today. Being your rival suits me better than being your student. This way you're helping me more than you could if you were my teacher." Ichigo looked up at her. "I think a rival is necessary to become stronger."

"A rival it is then," Hiyori replied grinning. "But don't think I'm done with you already. The next time we fight I ain't gonna go so easy on you. I'll kick your boney ass, so you better get stronger!"

"I don't think I have choice but to get stronger," Ichigo said as he helped her stand up. "Lisa will kill me if I don't."

"Good, let's fight again sometime soon."

Ichigo nodded at her. "Come, let's go back. They'll be waiting for us."

---|---|---

And the first fight of the tournament is over!

It took a bit longer to write this chapter than I had expected. A few unexpected things happened and I was forced to cut down on my writing a little bit. I hope that everyone enjoyed this chapter anyway. If everything goes according to plan I'll be able to update faster after this again, but you never know…

Ichigo and Lisa are growing a little closer together and together with Shinji they're trying to change the black-and-white view of the other Vaizards. Will they succeed before the war breaks loose? Find out more next time in chapter 18!

R&R!

- Yonda


	18. Chapter 18: Sensei?

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Bleach or any of the characters.

**Chapter 18: Sensei?**

It was a sunny morning when Sora scouted the inner circle of Soul Society. She watched the people wandering through the streets from afar, not wanting to be noticed. Her duty was to watch without being noticed by the countless Shinigami. She had to make sure the streets stayed as calm and peaceful as possible. This was the first time she was sent to scout the busiest part of Seireitei, and she didn't want to disappoint Tarou, the man who took control of the Patrol Corps if Omaeda wasn't there. Admittedly, that happened more often than not. Especially in the last month.

A little more than two months ago she'd entered the Patrol Corps of the Covert Ops. It had been just before they had started recruiting and training up more members than usual. Sora figured that, with the war drawing closer, they wanted to prepare themselves to the best of their ability.

Aizen had left Soul Society in a complete disarray. Not only had three Captains left their positions and went to Hueco Mundo, several other people had been wounded as well, making it harder for everyone to organize their own squads. Especially the 5th squad had taken a big hit. Their Captain Aizen had betrayed Soul Society, and their Vice-Captain had been severely wounded by him, rendering her unable to lead the squad. Similar situations had arisen at other squads as well, but they had at least a Vice-Captain who could keep everything together.

In the past month, there had been a lot of chaos and despite the fact that they tried to keep everything under control, there had been a few riots. Luckily they had been only minor ones, but they had to be kept under control anyway. If those riots spread and caught fire on one or more squads, they'd be in for a lot of trouble.

As if Aizen wasn't enough to worry about already.

The Covert Ops didn't seem to have a lot of trouble, though. Recently another member had joined them. A girl with dark, spiky hair. She was being trained by none other than Soifon, their Commander. Sora had been amazed by that. She'd never seen Soifon actually training someone before, but now she was. While training under her, the girl, Tatsuki, had climbed her way up to the Commander's personal bodyguard.

When Sora had been told of Tatsuki's achievement she had been skeptical. How could a girl, who had been in the Covert Ops for only a short period of time, become Soifon's bodyguard? It just wasn't possible. Sora had wanted to get at the bottom of this. She didn't want any underachievers getting high ranks all of a sudden, so Sora had decided to follow Tatsuki around.

It hadn't taken more than a day for her to be convinced of the truth.

Tatsuki was amazing. Period.

Sora had watched Tatsuki fighting with one of the members of the Patrol Corps. It was Tarou. He was very strong, and he wouldn't give up easily, even more so if it was for practice. He was also the one who had noticed and recruited Sora two months ago. Tarou always said that the more he tired himself on the training grounds, the less he would bleed on the battlefield.

Sora agreed with him.

But it seemed that Tarou could bleed on the training grounds as well. At first, they seemed to be evenly matched, but after a while Tarou seemed to be having difficulties in predicting her moves and he received hit after hit from the agile woman. Sora was too far away to see everything clearly, but she did notice that Tatsuki's Reiatsu had suddenly vanished even though Tatsuki was still there.

She'd never seen anything like it before. From that moment Tatsuki had gained her unconditioned respect. She was truly powerful to be able to hide your Reiatsu completely in battle. Your opponent would have to rely on their own guts and eyesight alone. They weren't able to sense her at all. That wasn't the only thing she admired about Tatsuki, though. A good ability alone wasn't enough. Besides that Tatsuki was a friendly woman who would always be there for you. Almost everyone had liked her since she'd gotten here.

Sora sighed as she glanced over at the crowded square to her left. Most of the riots had died out already, and the chaos had been becoming less and less even though it was still there, but that didn't mean she was going to neglect the task given to her by Tarou. She had to watch the inner circle of Seireitei for anything suspicious. This was only the third time she'd gone out for a mission and she wasn't going to let him down. Especially since he had been talking about there being a traitor among them.

There wasn't really a traitor in the Patrol Corps, Tarou was simply very annoyed by Omaeda who was supposed to be leading their Corps. Sora had only seen him once since she'd been recruited into the Patrol Corps. The man had been extremely gloomy at the time. He seemed to be rather put out by something, but because she'd been such a newbie at the time, she hadn't dared to ask what it was. She agreed with Tarou who thought he should be there more for his own squad, but somehow she thought that Omaeda needed someone to be there for him as well.

He looked so depressed. That was probably also the reason why he hadn't shown up since that then. If only she could help him somehow… Sora didn't dare to approach the man on her own, though. He probably didn't even know who she was. She wouldn't like it either if someone she didn't know suddenly started messing around in her affairs and told her what she should and shouldn't do, no matter how sincere it was.

The sound of a bird behind her distracted her from her musings. She scanned the square one more time and looked behind her. To her surprise she saw not only the bird. She also saw the two people she'd just been thinking about in the distance, just outside the area she was supposed to be watching. They seemed to be running. Sora was curious as to what those two were up to. She'd never seen them together, she hadn't even known that they were friendly to one another.

Torn between wanting to stay where she was and wanting to come closer to the two, Sora finally decided on the latter. She didn't want to abandon the mission she'd been giving, but she thought this was suspicious as well. It was close to where she'd been scouting, anyway, so should something happen she could get back and make sure everything was okay in time. Not that she thought anything was going to happen, but you could never be too sure.

As she tried to conceal her presence, Sora crept closer to the two Shinigami. She didn't think she'd done a good job of it, but if she stayed just within hearing range she might be able to listen to them undetected. It wasn't like they were sensing for other Shinigami close to them in friendly territory, anyway.

Hiding in one of the alleyways crossing the main road, Sora listened carefully. She didn't hear their footsteps coming any closer, it seemed they had stopped. Hoping they hadn't spotted her already, Sora chanced a glance around the corner to see what they were doing.

"I'm beat," Omaeda said, panting heavily as he sat down on a low, white bench, standing against the wall. "I give up. You're way too fast for me."

"Your own fault for challenging me like that. You're lucky I didn't kick your arse," Tatsuki said as she leaned against the wall. She wasn't panting like Omaeda, but she was still slightly out of breath, which had surprised her. She hadn't known he was so good at running.

She leaned her head back against the wall and glanced at Omaeda from the corner of her eyes. "Since when have you started running like that?" she asked. "I don't want to discourage you or something – quite the opposite – but I've never seen you running before. For a time I started wondering if you were even capable of moving at all."

"I challenged you because I wanted to get you away from Soifon," Omaeda answered, ignoring her remark.

Tatsuki arched an eyebrow. "How so?"

"You see, I've been around Soifon for a lot longer than you have. I know how she reacts. I knew she wouldn't run after us when I made you chase me."

"And why did you feel the need to get me away from Soifon?"

"Because I wanted to talk to you without her butting in. She wouldn't even let me finish one sentence if she was here. She doesn't really think highly of me, just like you, so I wanted to talk things over with you."

Tatsuki remained silent and nodded for him to go on as she readjusted her leather headband. She had a habit of doing that every time she was a little uncomfortable.

"You see," Omaeda began, "ever since Aizen betrayed Soul Society things have started to get worse between me and Soifon. Worse than before at least. We never worked together very well, but at least we could keep things going. Even now I'm not completely sure what it is that Soifon hates about me. I've tried everything to make her accept me but nothing seems to work."

"Besides that, I've also had some troubles the Patrol Corps. I used to get along with them pretty well – better than with Soifon, anyway – but when you showed up everything went wrong."

"Why are you telling me this? You can't just go around and blame me like it's nothing," Tatsuki said glaring at the man.

"Please let me finish before you bash my head against the wall," Omaeda said as he shrunk back on the bench.

Tatsuki snorted. "I'm not an evil monster who'll eradicate everyone who crosses my path."

Omaeda looked a little doubtful, but he continued anyway. "Okay, as I said ever since Soifon picked you up I've been getting a little depressed. Soifon started to ignore me completely up to the point where she forgot to tell me there was an unexpected meeting. I know it's not a smart thing to do, but instead of addressing the problem to her I began crawling back in my shell and started moping like an old fool. I even ignored my own Patrol Corps." Omaeda sighed at this. "I ignored them, Tatsuki! No matter how I look at it now I know I'm the one who should be blamed, but I blamed you instead."

"All this time I just kept thinking 'if it wasn't for her…'

Tatsuki opened her mouth to object, but closed it again when Omaeda held up his hand. He had been reluctant to have this talk with her, but now he'd started it he wanted to finish it.

"I've been thinking about this since I met you yesterday. I began looking at you for who you really were instead of 'that brat Soifon picked up'. I was surprised at what I saw. I saw a girl who'd been working hard since the moment she set foot in Seireitei. Together with Soifon you trained like your life depended on it, which, sadly enough, it does."

"That's not the only thing, though. I also saw that you were friendly towards the rest of the Covert Ops. While fighting and training with them you were always determined to win and, no matter what the result of the fight was, you always kept smiling afterwards. I had always wondered why the rest of the covert Ops liked you so much more than me, but it seems I've figured it out now. You're exactly what we need in times like this."

"Looks like you're not as stupid as you look," Tatsuki said after a short silence. She hadn't known he had been acting like he had partly because of her. She was glad he had admitted that he had been wrong about her, though. Admitting you were wrong was always hard, but it was the first step towards forgiveness.

And if she had any say in it he had a long, long way to go.

Tatsuki didn't plan on just forgiving him because he said some smart words, telling her that he was sorry. If he truly was sorry he had to prove it with his actions. Tatsuki thought the way he'd acted in the past month was unacceptable. He had abandoned his own Patrol Corps and all the duties he had as a Vice-Captain. That was not something to be taken lightly.

"What do you want me to say, Omaeda?" Tatsuki asked, making up her mind. "Do you want me to say that I'm sorry for thinking bad things about you? Do you want me to just forget about everything you did and pretend it didn't happen? If you think I'm someone like that you're dead wrong!" Tatsuki closed her right hand around the leather bracelet she wore on her left arm, clenching it with all her might.

"I… err… Look, Tatsuki. I–" Omaeda said perplexed, but Tatsuki interrupted him before he could do more than stutter a few meaningless words.

"You may have figured a few things out about me, but that's not everything there is to me, Omaeda. Not even close. The biggest difference between us is that you fight to protect your own status and well-being, while I fight to protect those close to me. Unlike you, I couldn't care less about my status. Don't get me wrong. I'm both excited and proud of the things I have achieved thus far, but I wouldn't even hesitate to throw it all away if I could save even one friend of mine by doing so."

"You act all high and mighty and throw with apologies not because you want to protect your own Patrol Corps, but because you want to protect yourself," Tatsuki continued when Omaeda kept silent.

"That's not how it is, Tatsuki. I care for both the 2nd squad and my Patrol Corps."

"Then act like it! Words are meaningless. I will only believe you when I see you acting to your true feelings."

Omaeda gulped when he stared in her in her brown eyes, set in a menacing glare. He had never seen her like this. It was quite a scary sight. Was this the real Tatsuki? How the hell could the people from the Covert Ops have so much respect for such a scary woman? She was just as bad as Soifon, if not worse.

"You're not someone I want to cross," Omaeda said finally, for lack of something better to say.

Tatsuki's face suddenly lit up with a grin. "I think it's a little bit too late for that."

"What do you mean? And what's with that grin?"

"Can't you guess… The reason we picked you up this morning?" Tatsuki asked smugly.

Omaeda's eyes almost popped out of his eye sockets. "You two intend to kill me!" he all but screamed as a sudden realization came to him. He'd already thought it was odd that Soifon came to his quarters together with Tatsuki this morning. He'd been kind of honored when he saw them, but now he knew the reason why they had come to his quarters. They'd been plotting against them all along! They wanted to kill him. Kill him and then take away all of his riches and heirlooms. "You'll never get away with this! The Captain-Commander will find out about it and he'll punish you."

"Of course we're not going to kill you, idiot," Tatsuki sighed. "I'm merely going to challenge you. Soifon thinks you're incapable of taking the responsibility that a Vice-Captain carries with him, and since it isn't possible to retire if you're part of the Gotei-13 she asked the Captain-Commander if it was possible to reintroduce one of the older habits. The Captains in the 11th squad still use it, but Vice-Captains haven't used it for a very long time."

"So you do want to kill me!" Omaeda exclaimed, edging away from her.

"No, there's no need for us to kill each other. If that was the case I would never have agreed with it. We just have to fight until a winner remains. If I beat you you'll be demoted. Simple as that. You'll still be a part of the 2nd squad and your position in the Covert Ops won't change, so you will get the chance to show me that you really apologized because you wanted to and not just because so you wanted to save your own skin."

"And the Captain-Commander agreed with this ridiculous idea?" Omaeda asked tentatively.

"Well, that's why we picked you up. We're going to see him right now."

"There's no way in hell I'm going to cooperate with something like this!" Omaeda said as he jumped from the low bench he was sitting on and ran away from her. He'd taken all the effort to drag her away from Soifon so he could tell her how he felt, and this was how she thanked him? She acted like he was an arrogant bastard who only cared about himself. He couldn't understand how some woman could be so arrogant as she was. Her reputation had made her lose her mind. Or maybe she'd always been like this, he didn't know.

Sora watched as Omaeda backed away from the low stone bench, standing against the wall and ran away. When she first started listening to their conversation she hadn't thought that it would end like this. Omaeda had apologized to Tatsuki and he had confirmed Sora's worries about him. She'd already thought he wasn't feeling very well, but now he had just confirmed it. It seemed that he'd been depressed in the past few weeks, which was obviously also the reason why he hadn't shown up at all.

What she didn't understand, though, was Tatsuki's reaction. She'd thought the girl, for whom she'd had so much respect, would somehow comfort the man and tell him that everything was going to be all right. She'd thought that Tatsuki would at least help Omaeda to get over his depression. But, if anything, she'd only made him even more depressed. Tatsuki had openly questioned the man's motives and told him she was going to challenge him for the position of Vice-Captain. That was a big bite to swallow.

Was Tatsuki really worthy of the praise she got from everyone in the Covert Ops? Was she really helping them, or did she just want to make people believe in her so she could use them later on? Sora didn't know the answer to those questions, but she didn't dare to confront Tatsuki with them just yet. She needed some time alone to think. Maybe she could confide in Tarou as well. He would know what to do

Sora edged away from the corner and made her way back to where she was supposed to be. She suddenly froze when she heard Tatsuki calling out to her.

"Did you enjoy listening to us, Sora?"

She slowly turned around and came face-to-face with a smirking Tatsuki.

"I… I was just," Sora stammered. She wished she hadn't come here to eavesdrop. Tatsuki could be really scary.

"It's okay," Tatsuki said. "It's no shame to be curious, Sora."

"How do you know my name?" Sora hadn't wanted to be so bold, but she couldn't control herself. How could someone like Tatsuki even know her name? Even though she was troubled by what she'd just heard, Sora still respected Tatsuki.

"Is it a crime to know the name of someone from your own organization?"

Sora quickly shook her head. "No, no of course not. I just didn't think someone like you would notice me. I'm just a nobody from the Patrol Corps," she added, bowing deeply, so she wouldn't have to meet Tatsuki's gaze.

"Excuse me?" Tatsuki said frowning. "What makes you think you're a nobody?"

"Well… um… compared to you I'm just a weakling," Sora said in a small voice, still staring at the ground.

"Stupid," Tatsuki whispered as she stepped forward and laid a hand on Sora's shoulder. "Look at me, Sora," Tatsuki said when she felt the girl tense under her hand. Tatsuki didn't know why such an insecure girl wanted to join the Covert Ops, she could be so much better if she got her emotions under control. It was obvious she had some kind of inner struggle right now.

"I don't know who made you believe such lies, but you shouldn't think or do what others want you to do," Tatsuki said as the grey eyes from the girl finally left the ground. "You should do what you believe is the right thing to do. Of course you can get help from others to make the right choices, but you shouldn't let them make the choices for you. Not even me. You're not a weakling, Sora. Everyone has their own strength."

"I suppose so," Sora said, but it didn't sound very convincing.

"Is there something bothering you?"

Sora looked up at Tatsuki. She didn't if she should say what was on her mind. It seemed unthinkable to question someone like her, but she really wanted to know what was going on. Tatsuki had scared her a little when she'd seen her talking together with Omaeda, but she was so sincere now. It was almost as if she was talking to a completely different Tatsuki right now.

"You don't have to tell me if you don't want to, Sora. That choice is yours to make. But you should know that I'm always available for help if you need it."

"Why did you say those nasty things to Omaeda?" Sora blurted out, her curiosity finally getting the better of her. "He seemed really depressed and just by looking at him I could tell it was difficult for him to talk with you about this. He wanted to clear up some kind of misunderstanding, but you lashed out at him, making him even more depressed."

"Things aren't always what you think they are, Sora," Tatsuki said smiling. "Many people react differently than others to a situation like this. You have to know what the person you're talking to is like in order to help him. People are curious beings."

"What do you mean?"

"Let me explain it more clearly to you. What would you have done if I had started yelling at you, demanding to know what was on your mind? Would you have told me what was bothering you?"

"No, I guess not," Sora said after a while. "But I still think you shouldn't have said those things to Omaeda."

"As I said. Everyone reacts differently. If I had kept calm and embraced everything Omaeda had said, he would've gotten out of his depression without hating me, but he wouldn't really have a goal. He wouldn't have a need to prove himself. There's nothing wrong with that, but when a war is approaching an attitude like that is dangerous. Even more so if you're a noble who is the commander of the Patrol Corps. He would've fallen back to his rotten behavior in mere weeks."

"So why did you say those things?"

"I said those things so he would hate me for it. He is a noble, and they don't like losing. Not. One. Bit. He'll be set for revenge now. He's going to work hard to try to beat me and, by doing so, he will also help those people who work with him – the Patrol Corps. I gave him a goal and on top of that he'll be too busy to act depressed."

"So, knowing he would hate you for it, you said those things to make him stronger?" Sora asked.

"Well, yes… that's party the reason. Besides that he simply deserved to be taken down a notch or two. No one should just abandon people who're depending on you just because you're a little depressed. Your opponent in battle won't care if you're depressed or not, so you better be prepared for it. I don't have a grudge against the nobles, but I think some of them need to get their heads out of their arses and start doing something useful instead of strutting around the place, acting all high and mighty."

A small giggle escaped from her lips as she nodded at Tatsuki. "I guess you're right." Sora bowed lightly. "I have to go now. Thank you for talking with me, I'll keep your advice in mind."

"You do that," Tatsuki said as she ruffled Sora's hair. "Make sure you'll get back in time. I think you're in for one helluva tough training when Omaeda gets back."

Sora waved at her as she dashed away. Now her worries were gone she felt much lighter. Almost as if a huge burden had been removed from her shoulders.

"Why do I have the feeling that everyone is watching me today?" Tatsuki asked when Soifon walked up behind her.

"Because you are." Soifon clapped her on her shoulder. "Looks like you've already found yourself a student."

"'Scuse me?" Tatsuki said with a horrified look on her face. "I won't be teaching anyone. Never!"

"Looks to me you already did."

"Yeah, right. I just told her what I did and I explained how my brain works. Nothing serious about that."

"That's exactly what I have been doing to you in the past few weeks. I didn't want to teach you either, but when someone catches your interest you're simply obliged to teach the poor soul."

"Stuff it," Tatsuki grumbled. "She's already being taught, anyway."

"Sooner or later you will teach her as well. Mark my words."

"Come, let's go find Omaeda. I want to crush him," Tatsuki said, changing the topic.

Soifon grinned at her. "Sure thing... _Sensei._"

"Annoying woman," Tatsuki replied sighing.

---|---

"Stay still, Ichi nii-san," Yuzu said as she was healing the large cut on his back. She moved her hands, whom were enveloped in a soft green light, over the wound on his back. The healing Kidou spell she'd learned from her dad proved to be very useful indeed. It wasn't very powerful, but for minor wounds like this it worked perfect. She wondered how much better she would have to get before she was able to do more than this. It was very useful to heal minor wounds during a friendly tournament, but Yuzu knew there would be a lot more to heal when the war broke loose.

Together with Rukia and Isshin she'd been working a lot on her Kidou powers. She'd had a lot of trouble with getting it under control, but she was slowly improving. It annoyed her that she still wasn't able to do more than a few low-level Kidou spells and minor healing, but she still had some time to improve it. If she didn't, she doubted that her father would let her help out in the war. He'd say it was too dangerous for her and her brother would most likely agree with him. He'd always been so protective. It was probably the reason why she liked him so much.

Ever since their mom had died he'd been getting more and more protective. Yuzu appreciated it – she really did, but she wanted to do what her heart told her to do, and not what Ichigo and her dad told her to do. No matter what, she wanted to be a part in the war. Yuzu knew Karin wanted to help just as much as she wanted it, if not more. Together they would find a way to help. She wanted to be useful so she could help Ichigo and Lisa.

Yes, Lisa as well. She was working very hard with Ichi nii-san, so they could get stronger. And, besides that, she always stood by his side whenever he was hurt. Secretly, Yuzu had been considering Lisa as her second mother. She knew no one could really replace her real mum, but she'd been fantasizing how it would've been if she was still alive. Because she'd been so young at the time she didn't have many memories of her mother.

Seeing Lisa care so much for Ichigo when he'd been wounded had made Yuzu a little jealous. She wanted someone to worry for her like that. Her dad was the greatest man she knew, but he didn't even come close to a mother. Her jealousy had soon vanished though. Lisa wasn't only worried for Ichigo, but also for her and Karin. When Yuzu had been tired from healing all night, Lisa had grabbed her up in her arms just like her mother used to do. Nothing had ever felt so wonderful.

Yuzu hoped that things could stay as they were now. She liked Lisa and wanted her to stay together with Ichi nii-san. They were supposed to be together.

"Oi, brat, why did you have to get yourself hurt? It's pathetic!" Lisa yelled at Ichigo as she rounded the corner, walking towards them.

"Shut your trap, woman," Ichigo replied sounding annoyed, although he had a grin on his face.

Okay, maybe they're not supposed to be together yet, Yuzu thought wryly as she watched the two bicker.

"Ichi nii-san, could you please remove your shirt? I've already stopped the bleeding, but to close the wound I have to clean it first. I'm afraid there will be some scarring left if I can't see what I'm healing."

"I'll get you a towel and some water, Yuzu," Lisa offered. "And while I'm on it I'll get you a clean shirt as well, Ichigo."

"Thanks," both Kurosaki's said in unison.

Ichigo carefully freed himself from his bloodied shirt. The bleeding may have stopped, but if he pressured his back too much it would start bleeding again. Ichigo discarded his shirt to the side. It was ruined. He would have to buy some new clothes sometime soon. He was going through them faster than he'd thought he would. Ichigo wasn't used to this. Before he'd become a Vaizard he'd always wore his Shinigami robes. Those robes always restored themselves after battle when he had rested, but his own clothes didn't. Since he wasn't a Shinigami anymore he wasn't allowed to wear his Shinigami robes anymore. That was something he found extremely annoying. Not because he liked them so much, but because they were so useful.

Of course, if Inoue had healed him, his clothes would've been restored as well, but he didn't want to hurt Yuzu's feelings by asking Inoue to do it. He wanted to encourage Yuzu to get better and better, and Ichigo figured Inoue's powers were just unfair. He'd never seen anything like it before. Instead of just healing his wounds, Inoue's powers would restore anything that was touched by her barrier to its previous state. It looked like time got reversed inside the barrier. Quite interesting indeed. How she accomplished that, Ichigo couldn't phantom, but he knew such a powerful skill needed to be trained properly. Otherwise she could accidentally cause a lot of damage with it.

She could put too much force behind the spell, causing an injured arm to become the arm of a five-year-old toddler. That would be pretty troublesome. Ichigo didn't know if it was possible, but he guessed it was. Inoue seemed to have enough control over her powers for that not to happen, though.

Ichigo glanced to the side as he waited for Lisa to return. Through the barrier he saw that Rose and Kensei had already started their battle. They were flying around as they furiously attacked each other with their swords. Ichigo had wanted to watch their battle up close, but Yuzu didn't want to hear a thing about it. Together with Isshin she'd dragged him to the small infirmary he'd set up for the tournament. From this distance he could only catch a few glimpses of the battle and the mess they made.

They had only just started fighting, but Ichigo thought they'd already caused more damage than he and Hiyori had. Between each battle there was a break of fifteen minutes. During that time Isshin checked the fighting grounds to see if there was any serious damage that needed to be fixed, and Hachigen made sure that there weren't any cracks in the barrier.

Ichigo squinted his eyes, trying to keep the two Vaizards in sight, but they soon vanished as they went further and further away, leaving only a big cloud of dust and smashed rocks behind.

Ichigo suddenly froze when he felt an ice-cold wet towel against his back.

"Don't worry, I'm just cleaning the blood away," Lisa said chuckling lightly, in response to his startled look. "You can beat Hiyori with no problem, but it seems you are afraid of a little bit of cold water."

"Shut it you."

Lisa cleaned his wound, but she wasn't as gentle as Yuzu would've been. Ichigo clenched his teeth as she worked his wound with the rough towel she had drenched in the bucket of ice-cold water. She didn't rub so hard that it started bleeding again, but it still hurt. A shiver crawled up his spine when big droplets of ice-cold water rolled down his back and tried to seep through his boxer. That, combined with Lisa's hand placed firmly on his bare shoulder so she could rub the dried blood from his back, left Ichigo feeling quite uncomfortable as he sat on the ground, leaning his elbows on his knees.

Lisa squeezed his shoulder very hard as she concentrated herself on her task. Her hand felt so small against his shoulder. His muscles tightened every time Lisa gave a powerful rub against the wound on his back with the wet cloth. He was glad when she was finally done and Yuzu started closing the wound.

When Yuzu was finished she dried his back with another towel. His back was still a little sensitive, but it didn't hurt anymore. Ichigo was certain there wouldn't be any scarring, either.

Lisa handed him a black shirt, which he quickly pulled on. He had been getting a little cold because of the water.

"Looks like you've filled out a bit during your training, Ichigo," Lisa said winking.

"And here I was thinking your hand had gotten even smaller," he replied smugly as he stood up.

"I doubt it, Ichigo," Lisa said as she poked his forehead. "But enough smart talk. Let's go and check out how Kensei and Rose are holding out against each other. Rukia is watching together with Inoue near the entrance if I'm not mistaken.

Ichigo nodded and followed her to the barrier so he could stand next to a very nervous Rukia, who was mentally preparing her for the next battle.

---|---

It was time.

Lisa glanced to her left as she walked towards Isshin, with Rukia right next to her. The girl had been unusually quiet. She was looking at her own feet as she followed Lisa. She had to be very nervous to act like this. Lisa hadn't seen a lot of the girl, but she knew enough about her and her family that this wasn't very usual. Kuchiki's were never nervous before a fight. They were confident in themselves and would always face battle with their head held high. It could be that it was different with Rukia since she'd been adopted, but it shouldn't affect her this much. Could it be that the girl was scared? Lisa shook her head and tried not to ponder over it.

Rukia, on the other hand, _did_ ponder over it. She didn't think that she'd ever been so nervous before. Even when she'd been the centre of attention on her promotion party she'd felt more secure. Hell, even when she thought she was going to get executed her hands hadn't been shaking like they were now. She simply couldn't help it. She trudged after Lisa like a faithful pet.

Just before they reached the barrier, Isshin stopped them, and started talking.

Rukia looked to the small infirmary in the distance. Rose was still being tended to, but Kensei was standing to the side with Mashiro. Their battle had been finished a little over ten minutes ago. It had been a rough battle. Not only for the two Vaizards, but also for Hachigen. Rukia had seen him wincing more than once when the barrier took some damage from flying pieces of rock. Rose had also been flung against the barrier once by Kensei.

Just like Ichigo's battle, Rukia had had trouble following it through the end. They'd gone further back in the basement, up to the point where they were barely visible for everyone who'd been watching. The noise had made clear that the battle was still going on, though. When Ichigo and Hiyori had gone further back in the basement, their battle finished almost right away. That hadn't been the case with Kensei and Rose. They had been fighting for another fifteen minutes before the noise finally abated.

Everyone had waited impatiently for the winner to arrive. Kensei had been the first one to appear from behind the rocks. He had walked to the barrier together with Rose, who had been leaning heavily on his shoulder. Rose sported a long gash on his left arm and his head was bleeding as well. Both of their faces were covered in sand and sweat. There was no sign of their Hollow masks anymore. It seemed they had disappeared quite some time ago. Kensei hadn't been bleeding, but he looked like he'd taken quite a beating as well.

Rukia had already expected that Kensei would win. What she hadn't expected, though, was the fact that it had taken so much for him to do so. Rose seemed to be stronger than she thought.

Two matches were finished already. Both Ichigo and Kensei were already certain of a spot in the A-round. Hiyori and Rose still had a chance for that spot as well. They had to fight with everyone who'd lost first, though. Only the winner of the B-round could participate in the A-round.

When Lisa nudged her, Rukia followed her through the barrier. She'd been so lost in thought that she hadn't noticed that Isshin had already stopped talking. She hadn't heard one word he'd said. Even a waving Ichigo and Yuzu, wishing her luck, weren't able to draw Rukia's attention and also Isshin's thumbs-up went unnoticed.

"Someone is looking tense here," Lisa said once they were inside. She thought she ought to cheer the girl up before she started fighting. She wanted to win, but not like this. She wanted a challenge and to get that she needed to lift Rukia's spirits.

"There's nothing wrong with being a little tense before you start a fight," Rukia said.

"Got that right, but aren't you a little too tense, Rukia?"

"Maybe," she said evasively.

"Look," Lisa said as she held up her finger. "I don't know what's gotten you so nervous, but I don't think–"

Before she was able to finish her sentence, Lisa felt a sharp pain in her right arm. While she had been thinking about what she wanted to say so she could get the girl over her nervousness, Rukia had struck her right arm. Lisa hadn't expected the girl to do that at all. She looked at her right arm. The cut was quite deep. Blood gushed from the wound and soaked her sleeve. Her sword clattered on the ground. She couldn't even summon the strength to grip her sword with her right arm. Her fingers simply didn't want to cooperate. Lisa looked up and saw a grinning Rukia standing in front of her, blood dripping from the tip of her sword.

"Seems you're not as nervous as I thought you were," Lisa stated matter-of-factly.

"I'm sorry, Lisa, but it seems Isshin knows quite a few things about you. He told me that you were a very proud person. Proud enough that you wouldn't want to fight someone who wasn't prepared for the battle in a friendly match, at least. You are very strong, Lisa. Much stronger than I am at the moment. I've only just started my new training schedule with Isshin, so I knew I wouldn't have a chance of beating you if I attacked you in a straightforward battle. I need more training for that."

"It seems that that man has taken another one under his wing," Lisa said smirking. She was amazed by Rukia's acting skills. Lisa had been convinced that the girl really was nervous and she'd had to pay the price for it. "Annoying Kurosaki's. Who would've thought that I'd fall for something like this."

"One mistake can be enough to end a battle."

"True enough, but this battle hasn't even started yet. Don't think that something like this will stop me from beating you."

"How can you possibly keep fighting like this? You can't even hold on to your sword, let alone fight with it."

"I don't think Isshin knows that much about me as he thinks he does," Lisa replied as she reached for her sword with her other hand.

"What do you mean?" Rukia asked, taking a step back. Isshin had assured her that disabling her sword arm would take most of the fight out of her. That was the plan they'd made together. He said you had to play smart if you weren't strong enough to keep up with your opponent. Without her sword, Rukia should be able to beat the Vaizard, but why was Lisa still smiling like she had everything under control? It made Rukia feel small. This had been the only chance she'd had to even stand a chance against Lisa, but somehow she wasn't so sure it had worked anymore.

"What I mean is that he doesn't know I'm ambidextrous. Disabling my right arm isn't going to stop me. In fact, it makes me even stronger," Lisa explained. "You see, my left arm is much stronger than my right. The reason I don't fight a lot with my left is because I only use it when it's truly necessary." Lisa gripped her sword tightly in her left hand. "Let's get this party started, Rukia. I want to see what you're made of. A simple trick like that isn't nearly good enough to stop me from beating you!"

Rukia cursed her own stupidity as she dodged Lisa who charged forward, her right arm dangling uselessly at her side. She should've known that Lisa was capable of this. That woman was the well-toned fighting machine who had made Ichigo strong enough to beat Hiyori in a mere months' time. There was no way a trick would stop Lisa from beating her effortlessly. Suddenly the memory of her first visit in the hideout sprang to her mind. Hadn't Ichigo told her that Lisa was ambidextrous? How could she forget something like that!

Damned Kurosaki's. It was all because of Isshin's enthusiasm that she'd gone along with his plan. He'd been so happy when he explained the plan that Rukia didn't even think about the fact that Lisa was ambidextrous. That man's enthusiasm really was deadly. If not for him, Rukia might've been able to come up with a better plan, but she just had to forget one little detail that could be the end of her.

Rukia was reminded of her own words she'd uttered just a few moments ago, 'One mistake can be enough to end a battle'.

Not if she could help it, though. At least she now had an advantage. Lisa could only use one arm, so she shouldn't be able to switch her sword to her other hand during battle. Her plan hadn't been completely useless.

When Lisa flew past her, Rukia turned on the spot to kick her in the back of her knees, but Lisa easily avoided her kick by jumping up and slamming both of her feet against Rukia's shoulders, causing her to tumble backwards into a large pile of crushed rock and debris, which had been left there after the previous battle when some of the rock formations had exploded. It had most likely been Kensei's doing.

Rukia quickly stood up and held her sword in front of her with two hands to block Lisa's vertical slash. Her muscles trembled under the force of the attack. She was being pushed back little by little as pieces of rock and debris crunched under her feet. Finally, with a mighty roar, Rukia managed to push Lisa's sword away. She wouldn't have been able to block it with only one hand. Lisa hadn't lied, she was very strong with her left arm. Their fight had only just started, but Rukia was panting like she'd just run a marathon already. The gap between their powers was huge. She had to do something or this battle would be finished within the next two attacks.

Using Shunpo, Rukia sped past her, but Lisa was faster. Just before Rukia was out of range, Lisa threw her sword in the air and grabbed Rukia's left foot. Then she spun around and let go of Rukia, throwing her to the back of the basement, using her own speed against her.

Lisa winced when she heard Rukia impact on several rocks in the distance as she caught her sword. "She's going to feel that in the morning," she muttered. Lisa stayed where she was and waited for Rukia to come back. She didn't intend to go looking for her. It was better to fight on your own terms. Then you at least knew what you could expect.

When there was still no sign of the petite girl after a few minutes, Lisa ripped the sleeves from her shirt with a little help from her Zanpakutou. She discarded the bloodied right sleeve and looked at the wound on her arm. It was still bleeding profoundly. Her entire arm was soaked and blood dripped from her fingers. She was also getting a little light-headed. Ignoring the pain it caused, Lisa bound the left sleeve around the wound as tightly as she could to halt the bleeding. It was the best thing she could do at the moment.

When she was finished, Rukia finally showed up. Filthy as could be. It looked like she had taken a swim in a dessert.

"I was wondering if you had survived the attack. You were gone for so long," Lisa said.

Rukia gave her a satisfied grin. "I waited so you could bind your wound. It'd be a shame if you passed out from loss of blood."

"Fair enough," Lisa said, although she didn't believe the girl for one bit. She was too satisfied. She was up to something… And where was her sword? She was empty-handed and didn't even seem to notice it.

"Your speed never ceases to amaze me though, Lisa. You're much quicker than I thought you would be."

"You don't even know the half of it."

"What do you mean?" Rukia asked. Was she implying that she was much faster? It simply wasn't possible. But then again, she wasn't wearing her Hollow mask right now. That probably made her even faster, just like Ichigo.

"You'll find out… eventually," Lisa said in a mysterious tone, causing a chill to creep up Rukia's spine. That woman was weird as hell. There's more to her than I thought.

When Rukia remained silent, Lisa lashed out at her with a mighty swing of her sword.

Rukia braced herself for impact and yelled, _"Bakudou #39 - Enkosen!"[1] _A shield of condensed Reiatsu appeared in front of her and blocked Lisa's attack. She put her weight against Lisa's sword and pushed the woman away from her for the second time.

Lisa had a surprised look on her face. She'd thought Rukia was vulnerable because she'd lost her sword, but the contrary had just been proven. The girl was very skilled with Kidou. Being able to cast a level thirty-nine spell without an incantation in a split-second was the proof of that. It seemed that Rukia hadn't simply lost her sword… she had left it behind. Lisa wondered yet again what the girl was up to.

Rukia's shield vanished as quick as it had come to her defense. She didn't waste one second and immediately started attacking Lisa. she stretched her fingers in front of her and chanted, _"Hadou #4 - Byakurai!"[2] _

A bolt of blue lightning shot from her fingers and sped towards Lisa, which she easily avoided. Rukia followed the girl with her hand and cast a barrage of minor Kidou spells. The first four offensive spells missed, but she had more luck with a binding spell. The energy rope, known as Heinawa_[3]_, managed to grab hold of Lisa's left arm for a moment. She was able to break the spell quickly, but it had been enough to make her stumble and fall to the ground. Her sword clattered over the ground and landed a few yards away.

"_Bakudou #30 - Shitotsu Sansen!"[4]_ Rukia said before Lisa had a chance to get up and run away. Three beams of light slammed into Lisa and pinned her against one of the boulders behind her. One of the beams held her dangerously close to her wound on her right arm. If she tried to jerk herself out of this binding spell she could easily end up hurting her arm even more. This spell was also a lot stronger than the one she'd used to make her fall.

Rukia took up a position in front of Lisa and held her right arm up in front of her, while grabbing her wrist with her other hand. _"Ye lord! Mask of flesh and bone,"_ she started, _"flutter of wings, ye who bears the name of man! Truth and temperance, upon this sinless wall of dreams unleash but slightly the wrath of your claws. Hadou #33 - Soukatsui!"[5]_

Rukia leaned on her knees as she watched a huge beam of blue spiritual energy drawing closer to Lisa. It always tired her to use spells with an incantation. A loud explosion told her that something had gone wrong. On the other side of her spell, a dark blue light flared up. Rukia shielded her eyes against the bright light and the backlash of the explosion.

A big cloud of smoke and dust enveloped Lisa when the light of the explosion slowly died down. She grabbed her right arm. The strain of the attack had worsened the pain in her arm. She'd have to hold out a little more. Even though she could fight very well with her left arm it was still extremely annoying she couldn't use both of her arms. She'd been surprised by Rukia's use of Kidou spells. She'd had to rip her left arm free from the spell and cast a few Bala's in rapid succession to avoid being hit by Rukia's spell.

It had caused a big explosion and the remnants of Rukia's binding spell had vanished when the backlash had hit her.

Lisa peered through the smoking cloud that hung around her and spotted Rukia encircling the cloud. When she suddenly stopped a little to the side, Lisa struck. She charged out of the cloud and kicked Rukia with so much force it sent her flying.

Although the attack hurt, Rukia still had a smile on her face. Her plan had worked. She was flying exactly where she'd wanted. Rukia had moved into position when Lisa had broken free from the binding spell holding her in place. Rukia had dropped her guard on purpose so Lisa would kick her where she'd wanted to be kicked.

The safety net came into sight as Rukia squinted her eyes against the strong wind. When she'd been thrown in this direction the previous time, Rukia had set up her plan. Before going back she had set up the safety net between a few pillars and boulders with the use of Bakudou #37 - Tsuriboshi_[6]_ and had pushed her sword into it so she would have both of her arms free to cast various other Kidou spells. She had planned her actions very carefully and it had worked.

As she landed in the net, Rukia grabbed her sword. The net stretched out so far that Rukia was afraid it would snap, but it held her without breaking. The net shot her back at an amazing speed. She was flying back at a speed that could make even Lisa a little shy. At least, that's what she hoped. She tightly gripped her sword in two hands as she searched the basement for Lisa…

Lisa looked up as she picked her sword up from the ground. She felt Rukia's presence coming closer. It looked like she'd found some way to tremendously increase her speed. Lisa dashed forward to meet the threat. She needed to end this battle quickly. Her arm was really starting to bother her and it needed to be tended to.

Peering through the various stony figures placed haphazardly in the basement she saw Rukia flying to her direction.

She was searching for her.

Lisa knew this was her chance. She moved to one of the rocks Rukia would pass at a speed that could easily beat Rukia's. As she reached the rock with Rukia only a few heartbeats away from her, Lisa stabbed her sword into the stone. She held on to her sword for dear life, using it as a leverage. Lisa rounded the corner, still holding on to her sword, and slammed herself into the stone, catching Rukia between her leg and the boulder.

Her shoulder screamed under the torture caused by the sudden change of direction. Lisa's shoulder felt as if it had been torn in pieces.

Lisa pulled her sword out of the boulder and sheathed it, trying not to cry out in pain. It had been one hell of a ride. Lisa felt the room spinning around her. She'd lost quite a bit of blood and she felt dizzy. She walked up to Rukia and wanted to pick the unconscious girl up, when was suddenly lifted into the air.

"There's no way in hell you're going to carry her back," Ichigo whispered in her ear.

Lisa looked up in his eyes and smiled. "She's pretty good, that girl," she said softly as she grabbed his neck with her good arm only to find out she didn't really have a good arm anymore. They both hurt like hell

"Idiot, you could've killed yourself. Who would fight a Kuchiki with only one arm? I'm surprised you're even conscious, your arm is bleeding like a bastard."

"Like you would've given up if you were in my place."

Ichigo scowled. She had a point there.

Isshin walked past them and grabbed an unconscious Rukia up in his arms. "I'll let you off the hook this time, but if you hurt one of my daughters again I'll be forced to kill you, Lisa," Isshin said with a good-natured smile.

"That's your own fault for talking her into your stupid idea."

"It might not have worked as I hoped it would, but I bet she learned a ton of things from it. Fighting in the war will be much harsher, so this was a good practice for her."

"You crafty old man. You knew I was ambidextrous didn't you?"

Isshin's silence was enough of an answer for Lisa.

"By the way," Lisa said. "I am allowed to beat your son into a pulp, right?"

"Of course you can, Lisa!" Isshin said with a bright face. "The harder the better."

"Don't talk with my dad like that when I'm the one carrying you, Lisa," Ichigo grumbled. "I can just drop you here and be done with it."

"You know we love you, right?" Lisa said in an innocent, sugar-sweet voice, which caused the hairs of Ichigo's neck to stand on end.

"Shut your trap woman, I really might drop you."

Lisa chuckled and patted the side of his face. "Who could drop such a beauty like me on this dirty floor?"

"I think you need a mirror, Lisa. You look like you've just stepped out of your own grave."

---|---|---

_[1]: Arc Shield_

_[2]: Pale Lightning_

_[3]: Crawling Rope_

_[4]: Beak-Piercing triple Beam_

_[5]: Blue Fire, Crash Down_

_[6]: Suspending Star_

**Author's notes:**

First of all I would like to thank everyone who has followed my story up to this point. All your reviews and PM's have inspired me to keep going on! A big thanks to you all!

Next, please tell me what you think of my two side-characters. Personally I'm not a fan of those, but it seemed appropriate to use it here. In my opinion the Covert Ops seems more 'human' this way. Apart from Soifon and Omaeda we don't really know anyone in it from Canon. I'm not going to give Sora and Tarou a big role in my story, I just want to use them to give everyone more insight on things inside the Patrol Corps. Besides this I'm also very curious as to what everyone thinks about my fighting scene with Lisa and Rukia. I wanted to make it as realistic as possible without making Rukia bite the dust after only a mere minute.

On a side note: I know there hasn't been a Vaizard in Canon who has used Bala, but I think it'd be quite realistic if they could. After all, they're quite similar to Arrancar. They can both use Cero, and Bala isn't that different from a Cero. I think you could see it as a simplified form of it.

Please R&R!

- Yonda


	19. Chapter 19: The secret promise

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Bleach or any of the characters.

**Chapter 19: The secret promise**

"Wake up, sunshine."

Her eyes fluttered open, but she closed them again when a bright orange light pierced her eyes. She wondered how long she'd been out of it. It had been quite a rough battle. Lisa hadn't been easy on her and Rukia was glad for that. She didn't like it that her entire body was aching, but at least she'd been able to wound the girl while they had fought. It should count for something.

She looked up in the orange light again. Her eyes were still getting used to it, so she couldn't see his face, but she didn't need to see it to know who was standing over her. That orange hair could only be from one person she knew. Ichigo. Rukia rubbed her hands over her eyes and took a deep breath. No good idea. She felt a sharp pain against her ribs. "My ribs hurt," she groaned. Lisa really was a good fighter. She hadn't even used her Hollow mask.

Ichigo shot her a grin and held her back when she tried to get up. "I'd be surprised if they didn't. You got quite the beating from Lisa. You broke three of your ribs. We didn't know how serious your other wounds were so we let Inoue take care of the healing. She has been healing you in the last twenty minutes."

"Look," Ichigo continued as he gestured at her clothes, "even all your clothes are already completely restored to their previous state and there's no speck of blood anywhere." Ichigo sighed. "She truly has an amazing ability."

"Didn't she have to fight her own battle?" Rukia asked. "I mean, I appreciate it that she healed me, but I'm sure your sisters would've been able to heal me as well."

"Yes, I'm sure they would've been able to heal you as well, but you were pretty out of it and we didn't know if you had more damage than just some broken bones and cuts. Besides that, Inoue offered to do it herself. Her match has been rescheduled. She will fight against Mashiro when Love and Shinji are done. I don't think she minds it very much, though. She didn't look that keen on fighting. She has been getting quite some training from Hachigen since she's been here, but I don't think she wants to fight. She'll do a better job with healing."

Rukia looked thoughtful for a moment. "I can imagine that she doesn't want to fight, but it will be necessary for her to do so. If she wants to help us with healing in the war she will get targeted. We can't be there to protect her always, so she has to be able to fight for herself until we can help her."

"That makes sense, yeah. I guess we'll just have to see how it goes. You never know, she might be able to fight with Mashiro for a few minutes. If she can hold her off for a few minutes we know that Hachigens training has at least been a little useful."

"I suppose so."

"How's Lisa doing by the way?" Rukia asked.

"She's her usual self. Too stubborn to stay down. She's probably watching the battle between Shinji and Love right now. Speaking of which, you got quite a few good hits on her."

"It wasn't much really, I just tricked her into believing that I was nervous. If that hadn't worked I wouldn't have had a chance at all."

"Rukia, that's exactly how it's going to be when you're fighting against Aizen and his Arrancar. A simple trick like that could give you just the advantage you need to beat them even though they might be stronger than you. You shouldn't take those tricks too lightly. You might think that it's unfair, but war is never fair."

"And I think you should stop saying you wouldn't stand a chance against Lisa. It's true that she's very strong, but you showed her quite a few of your own skills which worked out pretty well in the end. I would never have imagined you could do things like that with Kidou. It was amazing. Especially that last one where you launched yourself with that safety net or whatever it was. Very ingenious. It's a shame Lisa was fast enough to take you out of the air. She ripped a muscle in her shoulder by doing that, though."

Rukia smiled. "Your father actually helped me with that. It seems he knows quite a lot about Kidou. He told me that Kidou can be used in many ways and that it isn't as limited as you'd think it is. You can use your own creativity to alter spells or use them in another way than we learned at the Academy in Soul Society. It requires a lot of practice and a lot of control of your Reiatsu, but if it works you can really surprise your opponent. I'm still inexperienced with it, if I had had more training I might've been able to prevent Lisa from taking me out of the air. I wasn't used at the speed so I couldn't spot Lisa in time."

"Figures my dad would teach you stuff like that and not me. I need to have a good talk with him sometime. I know almost next to nothing about his life as a Shinigami."

"You wouldn't be able to do it anyway." When Ichigo shot her a glare, Rukia quickly continued. "What I mean is that Kidou doesn't suit your fighting style. You need a lot of control over your Reiatsu to guide the Kidou spells. And let's face it, you can barely sense me sitting her at the moment."

Ichigo scowled. "I can sense you just fine right now."

"Can you also sense me 'just fine' when you're fighting, Ichigo?"

"Maybe."

Rukia sighed. "This is not time to mope over it, Ichigo. You might not be good at this, but your fighting style doesn't require you to be good at it. Your speed combined with your swordsmanship and your Hollow powers is much better for you than being able to control your Reiatsu. Speaking of your Hollow powers, Isshin told me that that is probably also one of the reasons why you can't control your Reiatsu very well. He said that those powers disrupt your sensing abilities because you hadn't been able to get it under control before those Hollow powers started to take you over."

"My Hollow powers?"

"Yes, according to Isshin anyway. He figures that you'll be able to improve your sensing abilities faster when you master your Hollow powers."

"Too bad it's impossible to tell when I have mastered those. I don't think even the Vaizards know what all the powers they have are," Ichigo said with Lisa's Sonido in mind. "I mean, they are the first Shinigami with Hollow powers. How would they know when they mastered everything?"

"I guess they wouldn't know. But you don't need to master everything to be able to fight. Kidou doesn't suit you, Ichigo. Just stick with the powers you've got."

"I'll do that, then. I also don't think I'm that creative." Ichigo looked at the barrier beyond. "Come, let's go find Lisa. Let's see if she can use her arm again."

"It wasn't that bad, was it?" Rukia asked.

"Nah, it'll be okay. Inoue will fix it, if she hasn't already."

Ichigo helped her get up and they walked towards the barrier. Lisa was probably there already. She had left the infirmary as soon as Inoue had healed her. Ichigo had stayed by Rukia's side, but Lisa said she had some other things to do and walked away together with Inoue. He smiled inwardly. She was just as impatient as he was. Ichigo had never been able to stay down when he was hurt. He would always get up as soon as he thought he was able to walk without killing himself, stating that he was feeling fine. He was lucky that he healed quickly or he would've killed himself by getting up too quickly.

When the barrier came in sight, Ichigo saw a huge Cero exploding against it. The barrier held easily, but a small crack appeared. Hachigen quickly rushed over and tried to repair it before Shinji or Love could make the crack bigger. Surprisingly, Yuzu also tried to help him. Ichigo didn't know if it was effective or not, but he figured it was good practice for her. At least she didn't make it worse.

Rukia grabbed his sleeve and pointed to the side. Lisa was talking together with Inoue as they watched the battle between Shinji and Love develop. Lisa was waving her arms as she explained something to Inoue, who nodded, but remained silent, her face set in determination. Ichigo didn't know what Lisa was telling Inoue, but he was impressed. It almost looked as if she wanted fight. Or at least as if she was ready to give it her all.

That couldn't be good.

Inoue had never been much of a fighter. She wanted to grow strong so she could help everyone with fighting, but up till now she'd never been able to do that. She helped them with healing a lot, though. Ichigo wondered if she'd received enough training from Hachigen to be able to fight Mashiro. Ichigo didn't know what he had to think of the green-haired girl. She'd never really talked to him and he didn't know anything about her. What he did know, though, was that he hated her pitched voice. It was so childish and it didn't fit his view of her at all.

Mashiro was fond of whining at Kensei about anything that happened. She whined about him, about everything Lisa did while they were training. She also whined about Inoue when she first got here. Ichigo knew that Mashiro hated Inoue. He didn't know why, it was probably because of her view on humans and Shinigami. The girl deserved it to lose against Inoue, but Ichigo sincerely doubted if that's be possible. If only Inoue could use her healing powers to knock Mashiro unconscious, it'd be pretty awesome if that was possible.

Ichigo knew it wouldn't be as simple as that, though. Despite her childish voice, she was very strong. She had been the only Shinigami who didn't have to undergo the endurance training. She had no problem keeping her mask on for hours on end. If only she wasn't such an annoying and stuck up bitch. She was a very powerful asset to their team.

He hoped Inoue would be okay.

Being curious as he was – a habit he had picked up from Lisa – he crept closer to the two woman. He wanted to know what Lisa was telling Inoue. Ichigo hoped she hadn't gotten herself in some kind of awkward bet already. No matter what the situation was, Lisa always thought it was appropriate to bet.

Ichigo was careful to not step on the tiny pebbles and stones. The sound would surely alert Lisa. Even when she wasn't fighting her senses were keen as ever. Ichigo carefully placed his feet in front of each other with each step and glanced around with her warning in mind. _Never let your guard down. Even when you think you are in a safe place there's always danger lurking around the corner. _

She always used to say that. At first, he had thought nothing of it, but when her murderous glare had almost killed him on the spot he took her advice seriously. It wouldn't hurt to always be prepared for the worst, anyway. That way you wouldn't have any unexpected surprises.

Lisa proved once again that she took her own words very seriously. Ichigo hadn't even gotten close to the two when Lisa got up from her spot and slammed Ichigo against the floor with her right hand.

"Glad to see that your hand is working again," Ichigo said. "It's a good thing Inoue is getting so good at healing." Lisa released her grip on his throat.

"Why, thank you, Ichigo. How considerate of you."

Ichigo got up and walked over to sit next to Inoue. Rukia was right behind him, blushing lightly as Lisa gave her an approving nod.

"So," Ichigo said, "you ready for your battle, Inoue?"

She gave him a big smile. Something he hadn't seen a lot. "Yes. I'm going to give it my all."

"What's gotten you so confident all of a sudden? I thought you didn't really want to fight."

"I…um…I need to ask Hachigen a few things. With my battle starting soon and all. See you later Kurosaki-kun," Inoue said evasively as she got up and quickly left.

"Right," Ichigo mumbled. "That was kind of weird." He turned to Lisa, who was evaluating her previous battle together with Rukia. They discussed their strategies they'd used and what they should do differently next time they had to fight. When Rukia was done talking about the Kidou-training she'd gotten from Isshin, Ichigo interrupted them.

"Lisa, can I ask you something?"

"Looks to me you just did."

"Right," he said, narrowing his eyes. "I'll be asking you another question anyway. What, exactly, did you tell Inoue before I got here? I've never seen her so pumped up before. It looks like she really wants to get into her battle somehow, and she avoided me when I asked why she was so eager to fight – that's not the Inoue I know. What did you do to change her personality in a matter of minutes?"

Ichigo didn't like the gleam on her face one bit. The last time she'd had that look on her face was when she'd won his freedom in a bet. He'd had to be her slave for a week. In the end it hadn't been a full week, but she had abused him quite a bit before the ordeal was over.

"That's… a secret," she said mysteriously.

Ichigo could've sworn that he saw a halo appear above her head.

Damn that girl.

Damn her to hell.

In the end the battle between Shinji and Love had finished much later than Inoue had thought it would. She knew that the two Vaizards had been Captains all those years ago, but she'd thought they would end the fight soon, anyway. Nonetheless, it had still been an amazing battle to watch.

At first, she hadn't seen much of it. She'd been busy with healing Rukia and Lisa, and she was also doing her best to mope as much as possible before her fight would start. That was until Lisa sat down next to her of course. Thad had to have been one of the first times Inoue had talked to the girl without Ichigo being there as well.

Well, she hadn't really talked a lot. She'd mostly listened to Lisa as she tried to cheer her up. Inoue was scared to fight Mashiro. The former Vice-Captain of the 9th squad was very powerful. Of that, Inoue was sure. While training with Hachigen, Inoue had improved a lot, but she didn't think it was nearly enough to beat Mashiro. Besides trying to cheer her up, Lisa had done something Inoue hadn't thought possible. When Lisa's rant was finished Inoue was actually a little eager to start her battle. Who would've thought that one promise and a few tips could've stirred something inside her. Something she hadn't felt before; determination to beat the green-haired girl.

She knew that determination wasn't everything, but at least it was a start. Inoue had wanted to hug Lisa and squeal in joy, but Ichigo ruined that by trying to sneak up to Lisa. The attempt had been useless as Lisa spotted him long before he'd gotten to her and she pinned him against the wall. After that Ichigo had sat down next to her and started talking about her battle. Afraid she'd tell him things she shouldn't, Inoue made an excuse and quickly left him.

It might not have been a very good excuse, but at least she didn't have to risk spilling her secret to him. When she'd arrived at the barrier, where Hachigen and Yuzu were working on a small crack caused by Shinji, Inoue was glad she'd left Ichigo behind. The battle in front of her had proven to be very interesting.

Inoue had stared in wonder as she watched the two Vaizards fight with their masks on. This was the first time she'd watched a battle with the intent of learning something instead of worrying about the wounds they were sure to get.

The masked soldiers circled around each other as they blocked attacks that Inoue couldn't completely follow with her eyes. Sparks illuminated the air around them and waves of Reiatsu tore at the barrier. They fought with only using their swords for over thirty minutes before Shinji finally decided it was time to end the show. He showed her things with his Cero, Inoue hadn't seen ever before. It wasn't that she had seen a Cero that often, but she was still amazed at Shinji's skill with this particular ability.

She didn't know how, but somehow his Cero seemed to have its own life. Shinji kept Love from attacking him with his sword by firing multiple Cero's at him. Love had to concentrate on dodging them, rendering him unable to fight Shinji head-on. The air around him was disturbed by the surging power. It looked like Love was walking in a cloud of gas. Shinji fired one more big Cero at Love before he finally made his move. Love wanted to strike at him when he saw that Shinji had stopped attacking, but he looked down when he couldn't move his hands.

His hands were enveloped in a red substance that looked a lot like Shinji's Cero. It began eating at his skin as it forced Love's hands to the ground. Love quickly ripped his hands out the weird substance, leaving him wide open. Shinji used this to end the fight by breaking Love's Hollow mask with a vicious punch and another Cero.

Even though Inoue had tried to catch every detail while watching the battle, she really had no idea what Shinji had done.

She pondered over it as she glanced over her shoulder to see Ichigo talking with Rukia and Lisa. It looked like he was trying to discover what it was that Lisa had said to her. It was to no avail. There was no way Lisa would tell him the truth before she wanted him to know it. Inoue wasn't planning on doing that, either. She had no intention of breaking her promise with Lisa.

"That was quite the fight, wasn't it?" Hachigen said, making Inoue jump.

"Yes, it was," she said. "I didn't quite follow the end, though. How did Shinji bind Love's hands? I thought he'd stopped attacking."

"You should never underestimate a Captain, Inoue. Especially a Captain who has had a lot of time to work on his own abilities."

"You see," Hachigen explained, "just like me, Shinji has been developing one ability above all others. While I was working on several new Kidou spells I've invented, he worked on his Cero. He can control it in a way none of the other Vaizards can. I don't claim to know everything about his ability, but, seeing as Kidou is a bit similar to it, I think it's safe to say I know a lot more than most of the other Vaizards."

"Inoue," he continued. "Did you see the air around Love after he'd avoided a barrage of _Cero_ attacks?"

Inoue nodded, saying that she'd seen it.

"I think that was the attack Shinji set up for Love. He must've known that the Cero's he fired at him wouldn't be nearly enough to take him down, so he used them as a diversion for his real attack. The disturbance in the air were infinitesimal shards of his previous Cero attacks. He separated them from their source just before they impacted and let them hover in the air. When he stopped attacking and Love wanted to charge at him, Shinji struck with the pieces left by his Cero attacks."

"Such a small amount isn't enough to do any real damage to a Captain, but it was enough to distract Love, giving Shinji the opening he needed."

Inoue looked at him with round eyes. "You are very knowledgeable about these things, Hachigen," she said. "How did you know all those details about his attack? I really couldn't tell what had happened at all."

"Just like you I'm not really a fighter. I mostly just watch others fight. By doing so over the past hundred years I've developed an eye for things like this. I'm mostly able to figure out the tactics of others before anyone else. Of course, it also helps that I'm the one who taught Shinji this particular technique," Hachigen added.

"You trained Shinji?"

"Well, no, not exactly. I only helped Shinji get started. He knew I was very good with Kidou, since I was the Vice-Captain of the Kidou Corps, so he let me help him with his control. It didn't take long before I was no longer needed and he started training on his own. Even I don't know what kind of things he can do with his Cero now."

Hachigen laid a hand on Inoue's shoulder. "It's almost time for your battle against Mashiro. She's not too fond of humans, so I think it's wise to be prepared for that. Keep my training in mind and give it your best shot. You're not a real battle-type like Shinji, but I hope that you'll be able to develop your own powers just like he did."

Inoue nodded. "Thank you, Hachigen, for helping me get stronger. I'll do my best."

"And remember," Hachigen said before he opened the gate in the barrier for her and Mashiro, "your determination is your strongest weapon. Don't let it waver. You can't afford that while fighting Mashiro."

"I think it's impossible for me to let it waver today," Inoue said. She looked over her shoulder one more time and waved at a smugly looking Lisa and a scowling Ichigo, standing next to her. She walked through the gate, leaving a slightly confused Hachigen behind, who wondered what had gotten her so determined all of a sudden.

It was very unlike her.

Inoue closed her eyes and prepared herself for the heavy battle ahead of her as she stood in front of Mashiro inside the barrier. She crossed her arms in front of her and reached up to her head to touch the hair-clips on either side of her head. She opened her eyes and looked intently in Mashiro's big eyes when her hair-clips brightened and her power, Shun Shun Rikka, burst to life. All six fairy-like creatures danced around her head, waiting for her command to direct them.

Ever since they'd been training together with Hachigen, they'd begun to understand Inoue more. More than they'd had before at least. And since the talk Inoue had had with Lisa, her determination had increased tremendously. She'd just needed one silly promise to get ready to fight.

"Are you going to fight with these funny creatures?" Mashiro mocked in her high-pitched voice, unable to envision those six small creatures doing any damage to her at all. As far as she knew the only thing they were able to do was healing. Was Inoue going to try to heal her until she passed out?

Inoue remained silent and gave Mashiro a small smile. She wasn't going to let Mashiro bring her down by insults. Talking with her was useless; she wouldn't have anything useful to say anyway. Inoue waved her hands dramatically above her head and directed the force of her power forward. They swirled around Mashiro's body, like a swarm of annoying bees.

Mashiro swatted at the creatures, but she couldn't get close to them. Of course, she could whip out her mask and exterminate them right away, but she didn't want to make Inoue cry. Yet. She hated humans, but she hated crying humans even more. No matter what Shinji said, she wouldn't work together with a lowly human. The only thing she could do to avoid the crying, was to knock Inoue out before she had the time to bawl her eyes out. That was the least she could do. Grinning, Mashiro gave one more feeble attempt to swat the creatures out of the air, and when she missed, she charged straight at Inoue. "Let's have some fun with the human," she muttered, too soft for Inoue to hear.

Inoue braced herself and squinted her eyes to catch Mashiro's movement. She wasn't used to their high speed just yet, but she could follow Mashiro if she strained her eyes. It would be more difficult when Mashiro started fighting with her Hollow mask, though.

When Mashiro closed the distance between them she put her hand on the ground and aimed a kick at Inoue's head. Inoue, ever so slightly, moved her right hand, and protected herself with the use of Santen Kesshun. With the training she'd received Inoue didn't have to chant the incantation anymore. She could control her powers with a slight flick of her hand, or when she was really determined, she could direct her power with her mind. That was something she wasn't very trained in yet, but she didn't think that there would be a lack of determination in this fight.

Inoue smiled at the surprised face of Mashiro. It was very obvious that the girl hadn't expected her to react so quickly.

"Your fairies are fast," Mashiro commented as one of them began tugging at her hair and her goggles on top of her head to distract her. "Oi, don't touch my goggles!" she whined. Mashiro quickly sped away to avoid the dark fairy, named Tsubaki, who was chasing after her, still tugging at the goggles. After a few minutes she had enough of it and went for Inoue again, glaring while she got closer and closer. "You might find yourself very high and mighty because Hachi likes you so much, but that's not going to stop me from beating you! Hachi belongs to me!" Mashiro's high-pitched voice changed to an annoyed growl. "What's the matter, Inoue? At a loss for words?"

Inoue kept quiet, infuriating Mashiro even more. Lisa had been right when she told her that Mashiro didn't like to be ignored at all. Judging by the look on her face it seemed to hack her off quite a bit. It might've been unfair to get tips like this from Lisa, but it helped her survive longer and that was what counted. Inoue really wanted to win the fight, but if she couldn't win, she wanted to drag this battle out as long as she could. She owed it to Lisa.

Mashiro dashed around Inoue, landing kicks and punches as she went. Inoue tried to dodge most of them and her shield moved with her, spinning wildly, countering all attacks but the last one. A vicious kick in her mid-section finally got her and sent her flying through the air. The air was driven out of her longs as she flew past several large boulders. She had to do something and fast. Mashiro was very powerful, it wouldn't be long before she was able to break through her shields. If that happened she would get quite the beating, unless she quit of course, but Inoue didn't want to give up. Not now.

Before Inoue had the chance to crash into the rocks, her Santen Kesshun caught her, still in the air. She straightened herself on top of it as a new plan formed in her head. Maybe she could use the increased speed she gained with flying to her advantage. It was worth the try. If she didn't do something quick she could kiss Lisa's promise goodbye. Inoue directed her shield through the air, using it as a flying disc. She had to be careful not to fall off, though.

On the ground, Mashiro scooped up a big, loose rock from the ground, whom was left there from previous battles, and hurled it towards Inoue in an attempt to knock her off the small platform.

Her eyes widened as she saw the rock coming. "Tsubaki!" Inoue yelled, even though it hadn't been necessary.

"I'm on it, I'm on it!" he shouted. "No need to yell at me. You really don't trust me, do you?" He flew towards Inoue's hands and waited a moment to gather some power before shooting forward, splitting the rock in front of him in two, causing both pieces to crumble and fall to the ground.

Inoue quickly landed on the ground, dismissing her plan with her newly-invented flying disc. Flying didn't really seem a very good idea at the moment. She eyed Mashiro suspiciously. The girl looked awed and seemed to be torn between wanting to fly too and wanting to end the fight right now. Inoue hastily tried to come up with another plan. She had to win this fight. For Lisa. For Ichigo. For the privilege she'd be given if she won. This fight required one of her newly learned skills. She wouldn't last much longer. Her breath came in ragged pants and her forehead was beaded with sweat. She didn't understand how Ichigo was able to fight for so long. Her fight had only just started and she was already exhausted.

"Playtime is over," Mashiro said in a sing-song voice. "It's time to crush the little fairies." Mashiro's Hollow mask, resembling a bee, formed on top of her head. With her enhanced strength and speed, she chased after Inoue once again, intending to finish the battle right away.

Inoue didn't move one inch and held her ground. She looked at Tsubaki flying above her right eye and gave him a small nod.

"Finally you're making sense, woman. Let's get this party going!" he said smiling widely. Then he started circling in front of Inoue together with the other five. The six of them melted together in a single barrier and completely enveloped Inoue, causing her to give off an unnatural glowing light. The little creatures were nowhere to be seen. Inoue had only used this type of ability once, and she knew she couldn't keep it up for long. At most two minutes.

Inoue took a deep breath and put her hands in front of her, concentrating with all her might on the task at hand as she closed her eyes.

A smirking Mashiro increased her speed and flew towards Inoue. She pulled her foot back and then swung it forward again with all her might. "Mashiro Kick!"

What happened next was one of the weirdest things Mashiro had ever experienced. Instead of hitting the girl head-on she felt like she just kicked in the air. Her feet went straight through the girl as if she wasn't even there and the force of the attack caused her to lose her balance and fall on her back. Inoue, panting heavily, opened her eyes and quickly walked up to Mashiro and laid her hands over the mask on her face. An uncharacteristic frown covered her face. The weird light that enveloped her started seeping from her body and covered the mask. Mashiro felt her strength leaving her, like it was being sucked away, and her mask suddenly started crumbling. That had never happened before she'd at least been fighting with it for twelve hours.

Mashiro got over her surprise and quickly recovered by kicking Inoue again. This time it did hit her. Inoue crashed into the rocks behind her headfirst. Her fall was cushioned a little bit by the light around her body, but her head still made a sickening crunching noise. Mashiro felt her face and noticed that most of her mask had disappeared already. Only a small piece over her left eye was still intact. She walked over to Inoue and saw that the light around her started dissipating. She drew her right foot back, preparing to fire of a Cero, but before she could she was tackled to the ground by Isshin and Kensei and restrained.

"That's enough, Mashiro!" Isshin said. "This is a friendly match, don't overdo it. Inoue's only human. She can't withstand a Cero from close range!"

Mashiro wanted to object. It didn't feel as if she had won yet, but when she saw Kensei's disturbed face she sighed and gave up struggling. When he put up a face like that there was no one who could get past him. Not even she.

A wide-eyed Ichigo and Lisa pulled an unconscious Inoue out from under the rocks. "What the hell was that thing she did at the end?" Ichigo asked bewildered. "Was it that secret you were talking about before I got to you, Lisa? Something you taught her?"

Lisa shook her head. "No, I've never seen her do something like that. I'd like to know what it was when she wakes up as well."

Ichigo gave Mashiro a foul look and carried Inoue back towards the small infirmary together with Lisa, both wondering what kind of power the human girl had just shown to them.

Satisfied, Tatsuki left the 1th division grounds. After chasing down Omaeda, who had been planning his revenge on Tatsuki in his own quarters, they went to meet the Captain Commander. There, Tatsuki had explained the situation in great detail and told the old man that she wanted to challenge Omaeda to a duel where the winner would become Soifon's Vice-Captain. Yamamoto had listened patiently, but even before she'd started, Tatsuki knew that he would allow it. Nevertheless it was still a relief when he said it was okay.

What Tatsuki hadn't expected, though, was that the battle would be tomorrow already. She wouldn't have a lot of time to prepare herself, but she was confident in her skills. Judging by what she'd seen from Omaeda, she didn't think that he would be able to beat her in a straightforward battle, but she wasn't going to underestimate her opponent, for she knew how deadly that could be. She'd learned that from her human life while fighting in the dojo in Karakura Town. She'd grown very strong there, so strong she became too confident in herself and thought she could beat anyone. Soon after that she paid for that mistake and was ruthlessly beaten because she'd underestimated her opponent. After that she never made the same mistake again. She stayed fully alert and never let her guard down, no matter how small the threat.

"Well, that went well, don't you think, Soifon?"

"If you say so," Soifon said rolling her eyes. "I think Omaeda would disagree with you. Did you see how red his face was when we left?"

Tatsuki nodded as they walked on. "He shouldn't get so worked up over something like this. It's his own fault he has to fight me. If he hadn't abandoned the members of his own squad I wouldn't have challenged him like this. But he can be as angry as he wants to be. The angrier the better I'd say. It only motivates him more to beat me, and that's the most important thing."

"I doubt he would see it that way, but I'm glad you do."

Without saying anything else they slowly walked back towards their own division grounds.

It appeared word traveled faster than they did. When they arrived they heard the buzzing of conversations from afar. Everywhere where they went people were talking excitedly and pointing in their direction. Tatsuki caught small fragments of conversations as she walked through narrow corridors and past the training grounds and she was happy at what she heard. Almost everyone was glad at the changes that were sure to come the next day. A few people thought she was too young and inexperienced to become a Vice-Captain, but most thought that if she could beat Omaeda, she was up to the task. After all, she had shown them what she was capable of as Soifon's personal guardian. And to be able to satisfy Soifon was a great accomplishment indeed.

As they arrived at the training grounds in the back, Tatsuki spotted Omaeda. He'd run back after their conversation with Captain commander Yamamoto and he was training together with his Patrol Corps. Tatsuki looked gleefully at Soifon. "Seems like it is working already. I think the Patrol Corps will improve greatly in the weeks to come."

"It's too early to celebrate, Tatsuki. I know Omaeda better than you. It will be very hard for him to keep training. He likes to give up after only a few days, but if that happens we just have to kick his butt again. Or maybe we should really threaten to kill him if he slacks off again."

Tatsuki laughed. "That sounds like a good idea to me."

"Look, your new student is coming to see you," Soifon said pointing forward.

"She's not my student," Tatsuki grumbled as Sora shyly edged closer to them.

Sora greeted them with a low bow, which made Tatsuki very uncomfortable, and then straightened herself up. "Word travels fast here," she said. "Even before I got back everyone was talking about you and Omaeda. He went straight to work when he ran back to the training grounds several minutes ago. Everyone was so surprised to see him here that they spontaneously joined his training."

"I'm happy to hear that," Tatsuki said smiling. "He will have a hard fight tomorrow, so I don't think one day of heavy training is going to help him much, but let's hope he will continue his training after tomorrow, regardless of the result."

"I hope so, too. Tarou isn't very happy with him though. He's been almost completely in charge of the Patrol Corps in the past few weeks, and it seems like everyone suddenly ditched him to go train with the man who ignored them all that time. I think it's wrong. Tarou has been very kind and helpful. He deserves to be treated better than this after he worked so hard for us."

Tatsuki nodded thoughtfully. "Yes, I can understand his position. Did you tell Tarou what you think about this?"

Sora uneasily fretted with her foot in the sand. "No, not yet. I'll just annoy him even more if I point out that everyone has loyally returned to Omaeda."

"Why would he think you're annoying? If you were abandoned by all your friends, wouldn't you like it if one of them stuck with you and told you what lousy friends the others are?"

"That's different," Sora mumbled.

"No it's not. The situation might be different, but the solution is the same."

"You think so?"

"Yes, of course. I'm always right, Sora," Tatsuki said winking. "Just go and tell him, I bet he'll appreciate it. And if he doesn't I'll kick his ass for you."

Sora's face lit up. "I suppose it wouldn't hurt to tell him," she said as her cheeks turned a little pink

"Now off with you, Sora! Go tell the boss what's on your mind."

Sora giggled and bowed before storming off, searching for Tarou.

Tatsuki turned to Soifon, who had remained silent throughout the encounter. "Isn't that sweet, Soifon? The girl is in love! I hope she realizes that Tarou could be three-hundred years old, though. No one seems to age here at all. It's so annoying!"

"You sure know how to ruin the moment, don't you? It's not like we can help it that you're so young! Sora is probably at least five times your age," Soifon said sighing.

Tatsuki frowned. "She doesn't act like her age if that's the case."

Soifon laughed. "Neither do you. I can't imagine that kids of your age would act like you now. It's creepy."

Ever so slowly, she opened her eyes. She blinked a few times, wondering where she was. "Am I dead?" she croaked, unable to think clearly. Who would've thought that dieing could be so painful and gloomy? Where were the beautiful angels, the enormous, majestic light buildings, the beautiful angle choirs who led you through the gates of heaven? She saw or heard none of them. The only thing she was aware of was the sharp pain in her chest, the stiffness of her legs, and the throbbing of her head. She couldn't remember ever having such a headache, it was crazy. Wait a minute, a headache? Since when did dead people have headaches? It couldn't be true, she was way too uncomfortable to be dead.

"No, you're very much alive, Inoue," a voice called out somewhere to her left. "You hit your head quite hard, but we think everything is going to be fine. Just lay still for a bit longer."

"Lisa?" Inoue asked uncertainly.

"That's me," the same voice said again. "You didn't hurt your head enough to forget me, so that's positive I suppose."

Suddenly everything came flying back to her. The tournament she was forced into, the promise she made with Lisa, her fight with Mashiro, flying through the air with her Shun Shun Rikka, the feeling of being mercilessly beaten and kicked into a wall of stone before her world turned black before her eyes. Inoue touched her head with her left hand. Her hair was matted with dried-up blood. Then, suddenly, she started to cry softly.

"Damn it," Lisa cursed. "I can't handle crying girls, where's Ichigo when you need him. I bet he left me here on purpose. Stupid, annoying brat." Lisa awkwardly tried to comfort Inoue who was talking and asking all kinds of things she couldn't understand at all. She was either too weak to talk, or she had just invented her own language, which wouldn't surprise Lisa at all. "Calm down, calm down. Everything's going to be all right."

"No, it'znot," Inoue sobbed.

"What's the matter, Inoue? Does your head hurt?"

Inoue took a few deep breaths. Her sobbing slowly subsided and her tense body relaxed. "No, not that." She hesitated.

"C'mon, spit it out, Inoue. If it's not your head what's wrong then?"

"I didn't keep my end of our promise. I didn't beat Mashiro. Now I won't be able to do . . . you know . . . _that_."

Lisa tried very hard to keep from laughing, and failed miserably. "You're not crying because your frail human head split a rock, but because you're worried I won't let you do that?" Lisa said, gasping for air. "Seriously, Inoue. I don't know what's wrong with you. You have to be the weirdest person I've ever met."

"People always tell me I have a hard head," Inoue said apologetic.

Just then Ichigo walked into the tiny infirmary. "Okay, maybe not the weirdest, but you're getting very close," Lisa corrected herself.

Inoue gave her a sad, watery smile.

"But you have nothing to worry about," Lisa said before Ichigo's frown turned into a question. "Seeing Mashiro so surprised and annoyed during your fight totally made my day. I won't back out of our promise."

"What's with the secrecy? What did she promise to you, Inoue?" Ichigo asked suspiciously.

Inoue looked frantic, bus Lisa quickly saved her the trouble of answering. "Oh, nothing really, it's a girl thing," Lisa said in her sugar-sweet voice.

"Right," Ichigo muttered. He mumbled something else which was very hard to make out, but Lisa thought it sounded a lot like "Woman. . ."

"How did the fights go, Ichigo?" Lisa asked in an attempt to change the topic, which, surprisingly, worked rather well.

Inoue was shocked to hear that the entire B-round had finished while she had been unconscious. Ichigo gave them a detailed description of the fights. All of them had been pretty close, but in the end Love came out as the winner, and was going to participate in the A-round as well. Inoue hadn't seen much of him, but she knew he had been a Captain-class Shinigami before he became a Vaizard, so he had to be pretty strong.

"The rest of the tournament will be held tomorrow," Ichigo finished after describing, in great detail, how Hiyori got flattened in her match. "It's already getting pretty late and we need to be well-rested for the fights tomorrow, Lisa. I'd hate to kick your ass only because you didn't get enough sleep."

Lisa smirked. "I'd hate to see you try, Ichigo. Your fighting skills are so bad I'd probably fall asleep and whop your ass while I'm sleep-walking."

Ichigo gave her a gentle shove. "Just smart talk, Lisa. You're afraid of me. The student will surpass its mentor. Mark my words."

Lisa rolled her eyes. "Just keep dreaming."

"Before I go," Ichigo said, turning serious again, "I'd like to know just what you did during your fight, Inoue. That was pretty damn incredible."

"I didn't do much, really," she said evasively. She didn't like the two pairs of eyes boring into her. "Mashiro was a lot better than—"

"I don't think so," Lisa quickly interrupted. "You're much better against long-distance fighters, and Mashiro obviously likes close-range combat. And I think she cheated by using her mask. It's not fair if you're not fighting against another Vaizard or at least a Shinigami. You were very creative with your powers, Inoue. That flying disc was awesome and that thing you did to Mashiro at the end was incredible as well. How did you do that?"

"It's something I learned to do while training with Hachigen. I noticed that if I combine all my powers together I can reject more strongly. It doesn't work with healing powers, but it does work on other things. If I concentrate very hard I can deny the fact that Mashiro summoned her mask. It weakens me a lot if I do that and even if it had worked I wouldn't have won the fight, but it was worth the try."

"I think it worked splendidly. Mashiro has the strongest mask of all the Vaizards. She can keep it up for more than twelve hours. It takes great powers to almost completely destroy her mask when she just summoned it. You nearly destroyed her entire mask in a few seconds' time. And before that you did something weird as well. You started glowing and Mashiro's kick went straight through you."

"It did?" Inoue asked, looking puzzled. "I don't remember doing something like that." She unsuccessfully tried to stifle a huge yawn.

"Maybe it'll come back to you tomorrow," Lisa suggested. "I think your powers are much greater than you know, though. You should try to figure them out so you can use it to your advantage."

"I bet they are incredible," Ichigo said, "but I think we need to get some sleep first. We can talk about it in the morning."

Lisa and Ichigo helped Inoue stand up and together they walked to their rooms for a well-needed night of sleep. Tomorrow would be the conclusion of the tournament.

After a long break I'm finally getting some writing done again! I'm sorry it took so long to update this chapter, but I've been working very hard on several other writing projects and I'm also getting quite busy with my new job, so blame real life, not me D: Anyway, enough fooling around. Some big stuff is happening real soon with my story. Things are really going to get interesting if I do say so myself. I also think it's safe to say that I'm about halfway through with my story, so there's a lot more to come!

Even though I really took my time with this update, I hope everyone enjoyed reading it. Tell me what you think about it!

R&R!

- Yonda


	20. Chapter 20: Calm before the storm

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Bleach or any of the characters.

**Chapter 20: Calm before the storm**

**A/N: **_A quick announcement before I begin this chapter. As I said in my last chapter I've been working on some other writing projects as well. One of them is a collaborated work of fanfiction. Together with Bruuz (author of _ 'To Find a Purpose in Death')_ I'm working on a Harry Potter fanfic. We believe this is a unique work compared to most Harry Potter fanfics around. I'll explain more about this at the bottom of this chapter. Have fun reading, and don't forget to review!_

Sitting in a small, secluded room to the side of the enormous area reserved for their battle, Tatsuki listened to the noise of the crowd. Many people were talking excitedly and some chanted names, waiting for Omaeda and Tatsuki to start their fight. Tatsuki didn't know that two-hundred people could make so much noise. She hoped they would stay quiet when the actual fight started, though. It would be hard to concentrate if the audience kept cheering for them like that.

Tatsuki silently wondered if Sora and Tarou were watching as well. They weren't directly related to the second Division, but they still might want to watch. She hoped that Sora had already talked to Tarou. Stupid, innocent, lovely little girl. How could someone who was most likely five times her age be so insecure? At that, Tatsuki could only guess. She did hope that Tarou would be nice to her. If he wasn't, she had to challenge him to a duel as well. Not that there was really anything to fight for, but at least she could give him a good beating to make Sora smile again.

With a sigh, Tatsuki unsheathed her sword, which was strapped horizontally on her upper back, and laid it on top of her lap. With her fingers she glided along the unusually wide and short blade, thinking about the fight which lay ahead of her. She had been so sure when she challenged him, but now she was getting more nervous by the second. It had been so logical at the time, but so many thing could go wrong. One mistake and he could beat her in front of all those witnesses who were watching their battle. Why couldn't she have seen that at the time? It was all Soifon's fault. The crafty woman had somehow talked her into challenging Omaeda to become her Vice-Captain. Why would she want to become a Vice-Captain anyway?

She found the answer much too quickly in her opinion. She wanted to become a Vice-Captain so she would be better able to protect everyone she had come to love in Soul Society and Karakura Town. But her main reason for wanting to become a Vice-Captain was so she could get a chance to get away and sneak back to Karakura Town. Of course, she could sneak back now as well, but it would be a whole lot harder to do so. She would also get punished and then it would get much harder to sneak away again.

When she was a Vice-Captain, however, she had more privileges. That didn't mean she would be allowed to go where she wanted, but it would be a lot easier. That was what she hoped, at least. Tatsuki also thought that Soifon would help her a little if she asked. She wanted so badly to see Inoue and Ichigo again. It had been a long time since she'd seen them and she really missed her friends, even if she would never admit it to them.

"Are you ready for the game?" Soifon asked as she casually strolled into the small room.

"Not at all," Tatsuki grumbled without looking her Captain in the eyes. She kept her eyes on her sword which she so seldomly used, and drummed with her fingers on the guard. "How did you talk me into doing this, Soifon? I don't know what I was thinking! I'll look incredibly stupid in front of everyone if I make a mistake and lose."

"You don't really believe you'll lose so easily to Omaeda, do you?" Soifon asked skeptically. "I mean, in the time you've been here you've grown so much, and Omaeda has been going downhill for as long as I can remember. It's good that you don't underestimate him, but you shouldn't lose confidence in yourself! You've got this far with hard work. You deserve it, Tatsuki. As long as you do what you think is important it doesn't matter if you win or not."

Tatsuki had never heard Soifon giving such a speech to her. "But what if . . . —"

"If, if, if!" Soifon interrupted her. "You shouldn't think about what could happen. Think about what will happen. Think about Sora and all the others who will be watching. Sure, you could be defeated, but if you've given it all you've got everyone will notice what kind of person and fighter you are. They will see the strength you will show them. That's the most important thing."

"I guess you've got a point," Tatsuki finally admitted. "I just get so nervous when people are watching me."

Soifon laughed. "That's very normal, Tatsuki. Just don't let it bother you too much."

"That's easier said than done."

"Got that right," Soifon agreed. "But it's time to get going. Let's show the fat lump what you're made of!"

Tatsuki's usual grin was back in place. "Yeah, I'll show him good!"

Tatsuki got to her feet and reached with her hand for the tiny chain which was attached to the rather large guard of her sword. She twirled her sword around her wrist a few times and then slid it back in her scabbard on her back. It was time to get some action!

Together with Soifon she walked outside and met the big crowd which had been cheering for quite a while now.

"Didn't you say there were only supposed to be two-hundred eyewitnesses?" Tatsuki asked when they walked past the big stages, put up there for the audience to watch the battle. Everywhere where she looked people sat or stood, watching the reserved area. They all seemed to be expecting quite a show.

"Yeah, that's how it used to be. But many people wanted to watch the battle because it's such an unusual even. They are also very curious because they haven't heard much about you. They don't think someone as new as you will be able to best a Vice-Captain," Soifon said shrugging. "People from almost every squad have come here to watch. When there wasn't enough room anymore, some of them went to the tallest buildings nearby and are watching from there. I hope one of those buildings will get destroyed. It would be fun to see them crashing to the ground."

"What? From every squad? That's insane. Why didn't you tell me before, Soifon?" Tatsuki said outraged.

"Because I knew you'd react like this," Soifon replied dryly. "But there's nothing to worry about, Tatsuki. A few hundred or a few thousand people watching you, it shouldn't make that much of a difference."

Tatsuki's eyes widened. "Did you say thousands? I hope you're kidding . . . Are there even that many people in Soul Society?"

But before Soifon had a chance to reply, Sora broke free from the crowd and greeted them as she started chattering away. Tatsuki didn't follow much of it, her mind was mostly on the battle that lay ahead of her. But Soifon suddenly seemed to be very curious and asked Sora a few questions about how her talk with Tarou had gone, which Tatsuki found odd. She supposed Soifon only did that so she didn't have to answer the question she'd asked before Sora showed up. But then again, her silence was enough of an answer to her. Thousands . . . Her hand began to tremble lightly.

After a while, Tatsuki, still not really noticing the girl in front of her, said goodbye to Sora and followed Soifon towards a small group of people. They were standing on a big platform to the side of the wide area, reserved for the fight between her and Omaeda. Just before they reached them, Tatsuki recognized the Captain-Commander and a few other faces she'd seen at Rukia's promotion party. This were probably all the Captains and their Lieutenants who'd decided to watch the battle. She also saw Omaeda standing there, and he really didn't look eager to be there which made her feel a little better.

"You're nearly late, miss Arisawa," the Captain-Commander told her when they had arrived. "I expect you to do better should you become a Vice-Captain today. This isn't just a game where you can come and go as you please. The new position you're attempting to obtain requires more than just good fighting skill."

"The heroin always arrives too late, doesn't she?" Tatsuki said nervously as she scratched the back of her head, a half-smile adorning her face.

The eyes of the old man narrowed and his Reiatsu flared up, causing Tatsuki to feel a very uncharacteristic shiver of fear crawl up her spine. Tatsuki didn't like to be intimidated like this, but she decided that it wasn't worth it and apologized. "I'm sorry, I'll make sure it won't happen again in the future." Tatsuki bowed deeply, but she could see a wisp of a smile on the face of one of the Vice-Captains standing next to Rukia's Captain, Ukitake. She thought his name was Hisagi, but she wasn't sure. He seemed to be a pretty nice guy, but his haircut was very similar to hers, which hacked her off pretty good.

Suddenly everyone became quiet and the Captain-Commander started to speak.

"Before us stand Omaeda Marechiyo, Lieutenant of the second division and leader of the Patrol Corps, and Arisawa Tatsuki, member of the Covert Ops. Today we will bring to life an old custom. Arisawa challenges Omaeda to a straightforward battle in which the winner will become or remain a Vice-Captain under the command of Soifon, Captain of the second division," Yamamoto said in a voice that could be heard everywhere in Soul Society. He paused for a moment and then continued again. "Soifon, do you give Arisawa permission to challenge your Lieutenant, knowing that she will be placed under your command if she is victorious in this battle?"

"I, Soifon, Captain of the second division, give Arisawa Tatsuki, my student and Protector, permission to challenge my Lieutenant in a battle, where the winner will become my Vice-Captain," she said formally in a clear voice, that echoed past the many hundreds of heads that were turned in her direction.

"Then let this battle begin. The one who either is unable to fight any longer or gives up and forfeits this battle will lose the fight and will, as a consequence, also lose the right to ever become a Lieutenant again!"

Tatsuki and Omaeda bowed to each other and walked to the middle of the fighting area as everyone started cheering loudly. It was finally time to settle things.

"So, you're glad you finally got things the way you want them to be, huh?" Omaeda said while they walked together. "I knew from the start that Captain Soifon and you were after me and wanted to take everything I have earned up till now away from me. Don't think I will go down easily, though! I'll fight with my life on the line. We've got a huge crowd watching us today, so don't try anything funny."

"Why would I want to do something funny, Omaeda?" Tatsuki asked, frowning. "All I want is a fair fight."

"That's what you tell us. But I know all you want is my status and wealth," he fired back instantly.

Tatsuki rolled with her eyes. "Keep dreaming, fatty. I don't want your stupid wealth. To me it's worth nothing. And when I say nothing it means that I'd rather die than swim in your filthy money!"

His face grew red. "I'm not fat, little girl. I'm plump. It's the status of my wealth and wellbeing."

"Whatever you say."

When they reached the middle, Tatsuki and Omaeda stood ten feet apart from each other and looked at the platform where Yamamoto help up his hand. The crowd grew silent again. Then, slowly, he brought his hand down, signaling for Tatsuki and Omaeda to start the battle.

Wasting no time, Tatsuki went straight for his throat. Omaeda was long gone before she had the chance to hit him, though. He had jumped to the side and had unsheathed his Zanpakutou.

Tatsuki didn't draw her sword, but simply chased after him. She liked to begin a battle with a few good punches before she switched to her sword or her other skills. She didn't plan to use everything she had in her arsenal today, though. Too many people were watching. For all she knew there were spies for Aizen in the crowd. From what she heard about him she thought that was very likely. Someone like him wouldn't leave Soul Society without leaving someone behind who could provide him with information.

Tatsuki was slightly surprised when Omaeda managed to dodge her first couple of attacks. She'd been quick, but he still could keep up with her. This was going to be an interesting battle.

As she once again flung herself at her target, Omaeda instantly released his Zanpakutou and hurled his flail-like weapon towards her. She changed course and dove to the side, but that didn't stop one of the spikes from Omaeda's weapon to scrape past the left side of her face, leaving a rather deep cut on her cheek. Tatsuki cursed loudly and put her hand over her cheek to see how bad it was. Luckily it didn't bleed a lot, but she was still annoyed at herself for getting hurt. It was time to get serious.

Tatsuki grabbed the small chain of her sword and slowly slid it out of its scabbard. The ringing sound of her sword reverberated throughout the area. She swung it up in the air and caught it with her right hand. She edged closer to Omaeda as she twirled the sword around in her hand. Everyone seemed to be really surprised to see her unusual sword. There had never been a Shinigami in Soul Society with such a short and wide sword. Swords with a short reach like this one were considered troublesome, but Tatsuki liked her Zanpakutou a lot. Especially the big guard to where the small chain was attached. In her opinion there was no sword as good or awesome as hers.

"What're you going to do with that little toy, Tatsuki? It'll be impossible to hit me with such a short weapon!" Omaeda said as he threw his flail to her.

"If your sword isn't long, you have to make up for it with speed," she replied. Tatsuki twirled on the spot and deflected Omaeda's attack. Even before he'd had the change to pull his weapon back by the long chain, Tatsuki charged forward cut his left cheek, leaving a gash there just like the one he'd given her.

"Now we're even," she said, kneeling down behind him, her arms stretched out wide.

Omaeda slowly turned and looked at her, stunned. He was faster than everyone gave him credit for, but it seemed that Tatsuki could gain quite some speed as well.

Steel clashed against steel as they kept on fighting. It was very hard for Tatsuki to get any real hits on the man though. He didn't fall for the same trick twice and watched her every move, making sure she couldn't get close to him without hurting herself in the process. Tatsuki thought Omaeda's flail was extremely annoying. Its reach was very long, giving Omaeda an advantage over her. Every time she deflected his weapon and charged forward, he wrapped the chain around her blade, making it impossible for her to hit him.

"Can't you do better than this? I shouldn't have worried that much if this is all you can do!" Omaeda said grinning. "You're much weaker than I thought."

"This is not even close to my _real_ strength, Omaeda. Just because your weapon has an advantage over mine doesn't mean you're stronger than me."

"Stop bragging and show me what you've got, little bodyguard," he taunted.

"Watch and learn, fatty," she answered. Tatsuki jumped back a few paces and threw her sword in the air where she caught it by the chain. She twirled it over her head and then pushed it hilt-deep in the ground. She went to stand on the big guard and held her right hand in front of her. Her sword gave off a faded orange light. The chain suddenly came to life and grew bigger and bigger and shot to her outstretched hand. When she caught it the sword stopped glowing.

It became dead-silent around her. No one even uttered so much as a whisper. The wind rustled through her hair and she looked at Omaeda, her eyes set in a menacing stare. The calm before the storm.

She held the chain close to her mouth, and slowly whispered, _"Seimei ni kora reru, soshite saido kokyuu shinasai, Suimin no Doragon[1]," _almostas if she were talking to the chain.

The storm was unleashed with a tremendous power. Her short hair whipped around her face as her sword began rotating, while still deep in the ground. Tatsuki stayed on top of it, clutching the enlarged chain. As the rotating speed increased, fire erupted around Tatsuki and took on the form of a dragon, standing on its hind legs, roaring. Then, the fire was drawn to Tatsuki's sword and it started to bubble in the heat and eventually liquefied.

Liquid metal and flames crawled up over the chain Tatsuki was holding and encased both of her arms in their embrace. The rotating slowly stopped and her Zanpakutou solidified around her arms. It hissed like hot metal being cooled in cold water.

Many people squinted their eyes as the force of the wind and the light reflecting off of her sword blinded them. Tatsuki's Reiatsu flared and fluctuated like a candle in danger of going out in a strong wind. Many a Shinigami watching the new girl were deeply impressed. Even some of the higher ranked Shinigami, standing on the platform next to Yamamoto seemed to be very surprised. The Captain-commander himself remained motionless. But he was secretly happy to have found a reasonably strong fire-based Zanpakutou. She wasn't even nearly strong enough to even slightly entertain him in a battle and never would be, but it was nice to know that he wasn't the only one with the fire of battle burning inside of him. What a strange girl indeed.

Tatsuki's dark hair had completely turned black and seemed to suck away the light around her, making her weapons shine even more. She had what appeared to be two fist weapons strapped around her hands. The right one being dark-red and the left one was dark-green The weapons reached all the way up to her elbow where a spike stuck out. The fist weapons were lean, curvy and looked to be very sharp, like dragon claws. The pointed claws were closely intertwined with her own fingers. Each weapon had several brightly coloured lines on the surface which resembled the chain she'd held in her hands. They were bright-red on her right hand and bright-green on her left hand.

Omaeda closed his mouth he hadn't remembered opening. He didn't know what he had been expecting, but certainly not this. He suddenly wasn't so sure who had the advantage anymore. She still didn't have a long weapon, but the sheer force she radiated was enough to make him doubt his resolve. He felt intimidated like he had never been before. Omaeda briefly considered forfeiting the match, but quickly decided against it. He hadn't seen her fight so he couldn't be sure if her released Zanpakutou was actually strong. It may look very awesome and fierce, but that didn't mean it was strong, or if she could handle the strength if it was.

She deeply inhaled the fresh air around her and locked eyes with Omaeda. He didn't look happy. "Is this good enough for you, Mister-can't-you-do-better?" she asked smirking.

Omaeda couldn't form the words to talk, but even if he had been able to do it, it wouldn't have mattered anyway. Faster than he liked, Tatsuki appeared in front of him and struck with her right claw. Omaeda quickly brought up his Zanpakutou to guard himself, which he only did as a last resort as it tended to break quite easily if used in that way. The red claw scraped past the weapon, causing it to crack and some splinters hit him in the face, leaving a nasty stinging sensation. When the claw came close to his face he felt the heat it emanated. It singed the hairs of his eyebrows. If there is one thing that smells bad it is burning human hair.

Coughing, Omaeda quickly jumped to the side. That claw was hot! He didn't understand how Tatsuki was able to endure it. It was right on her skin! Omaeda was a little smug that she hadn't been able to cause a lot of damage to his Zanpakutou, though. He'd seen people pulverize it with their bare hands, but Tatsuki wasn't even close to that with her steel claws. The smugness disappeared as soon as it had come when Tatsuki rammed her elbow back in his stomach. The spike on her elbow didn't really ease the blow in his gut as the soon-to-be ex-Lieutenant skidded across the floor and crashed into one of the larger buildings. The building shook dangerously, but remained upright. That couldn't be said about the people standing on top of it though. They all but fell to the ground and quickly escaped to another roof.

Panic gripped him when Tatsuki charged after him again. Omaeda quickly scrambled to his feet and for his life as he used one of his special abilities to protect himself. His flail started swirling like a whirlwind around his body. It was mostly used as an offensive ability, but it worked quite well in defense, too. This way it would be much harder for Tatsuki to hit him.

The girl was quick, but the one thing Omaeda had kept improving in all the previous years was his speed. Many people could outrun him, but on Tatsuki he still had the advantage. If only slightly. He stayed ahead of her as she raced after him over the battle area. He didn't have time to look over his shoulder and had to trust his senses as he made sharp turns, rushed past several abandoned buildings and jumped over low walls. Then, Tatsuki suddenly stopped. Omaeda looked back at her and saw her smile. Mostly his enemies got annoyed if they didn't catch him and started to underestimate him. Why wasn't it working with her?

"I can play that game, too," Tatsuki said as she closed her eyes and sat down on the floor. She started concentrating and her Reiatsu, which had been getting more steady by the minute, started fluctuating again. Omaeda, seeing his chance, wanted to come closer to end the fight before she could finish her attack, but he was stopped when a wall of fire closed in on her. A figure of a tall dragon rolled through the fire and hit Omaeda, causing him to fall backwards and his flail stopped the whirlwind.

The dragon circled around Tatsuki and made sure nothing came near her.

Her Reiatsu started to fluctuate harder and harder, until it completely disappeared. The wall of flame disappeared and Tatsuki opened her eyes, which emitted an illuminating green light. She grinned at him; he was dead meat.

Confusion broke out in the crowd. Everyone who couldn't directly see the two fight thought that Tatsuki had suddenly been killed or had somehow disappeared from Soul Society as her Reiatsu had completely vanished. The people who were watching from higher places could see that Tatsuki wasn't in a predicament at all. There was nothing wrong with her, but her Reiatsu had somehow just simply . . . disappeared. If they couldn't see her they would've thought she was dead.

On the platform of the Captains and their Lieutenants a buzz of conversation broke out. Even Yamamoto slightly raised his left eyebrow. He had been slightly disappointed in the rather weak attack she'd shown them with her right claw. It should've crushed Omaeda's weapon and almost kill him on the spot, but it only damaged the flail slightly. The girl was clearly inexperienced with her Zanpakutou which was a shame since it held such potential, but what she had just shown them was a great accomplishment. She had vanished from his senses. In fighting circumstances even he wasn't able to do that. And that was saying something. Yamamoto couldn't help but wonder if it had something to do with her left claw, which she hadn't used yet. He was glad to see that the young girl had quite a few tricks up her sleeve and couldn't wait to see how she would still grow. The role of Vice-Captain didn't seem so out of place anymore.

Even though he knew it was futile, Omaeda still ran for it a second time. He had no idea where Tatsuki was anymore. It was like she'd changed into a ghost. A ghost from his nightmares which had come back to haunt him. Out of the corner of his eye he saw her coming for him and he dived to the side. By the time he looked over his shoulder he had lost sight of her again. This was not a skill he had been anticipating. It was simply not possible. Or so he had thought.

Seemingly out of nowhere, Tatsuki materialized in front of him. She balled her red claw to a fist and punched Omaeda in his forehead with her iron fist, using his own speed against him. Before the big man went down, Tatsuki thought she heard a crunching noise.

"Oh, dear," she muttered as her Zanpakutou smelted back in its sealed form. "I hope I didn't crack his skull." Tatsuki wobbled slightly on her feet and stumbled back to the platform as the crowd cheered for her. She dragged her sword behind her with its chain. Before she could reach the platform, the world turned black before her eyes. The last thing she remembered before she crashed to the floor was seeing Soifon's proud, beaming face.

Still panting slightly, Ichigo watched the battle between Lisa and Hiyori develop.

He'd just beaten Mashiro and it had been way easier than he'd anticipated. He thought it was probably because he was still angry at the annoying green-haired girl for nearly killing Inoue in a friendly match. If Isshin and Kensei hadn't stepped in, Mashiro would have fired a Cero at the unconscious Inoue, lying under a pile of crushed rocks. He and all the other Vaizards and Shinigami had a strong body and could withstand attacks like that much better than Inoue. That was her big weakness; she didn't have much endurance.

Right when the fight between him and Mashiro had started Ichigo had brought forth his Hollow powers and his mask had formed on top of his head. He couldn't afford it to let the fight take long; he needed to preserve his strength for the next rounds. It wouldn't do to win from Mashiro and then be crushed in the next round.

Mashiro hadn't been as quick as him with putting on her mask, but when Ichigo started to get the upper hand she decided to fight with her Hollow mask as well.

The battle was finished very quickly. Ichigo raged on like an untamed inferno against Mashiro, not allowing her any breathing room and pushed her to the back of the basement. There he got a few nasty kicks from her and he wondered how they must have felt if he were still completely human like Inoue.

When Mashiro came close to give him another Mashiro Kick, he dodged to the side and used his superior speed to get behind her. He gave her a head butt at the back of her head, where she wasn't protected by her mask. Ichigo's own mask nearly shattered on impact, but he didn't get any more damage than that. Mashiro, however, was knocked out cold, and the fight went to Ichigo.

He had walked back to the barrier without even bothering to look and check if Mashiro was all right.

Thinking back on it now, Ichigo thought he should've picked her up and brought her back to the infirmary, but he'd been so furious at Mashiro. They'd all been trying very hard to work together, but the only thing she cared about was herself and hurting anyone who annoyed her, including her previous Captain. Ichigo didn't mind her doing that so much if she picked on the Vaizards; they all were more than strong enough to endure it, but Inoue wasn't. When someone touched Inoue, she or he had to pay for it. Just like Mashiro had just done.

Looking back at Lisa, Ichigo noticed that she wasn't holding back either. With her mask at the ready she chased after Hiyori, who seemed to be having a hard time keeping up with her. Sometimes, Ichigo wondered if there was anyone alive who could keep up with Lisa. He doubted it.

Ichigo saw Cero's and big pieces of rock flying everywhere as the fierce battle continued. He watched Lisa closely, looking for something he hadn't seen yet, like her released Zanpakutou, so he could prepare himself for it if he had to fight her again. But she wisely kept her sword sealed, just like Hiyori. He had seen Hiyori's Shikai when she had been training, though. Her released Zanpakutou had looked out of place in her tiny hands. It was a big cleaver with a serrated saw-like blade that belonged to a butcher.

Hiyori madly swung her sword around at her heart's content and occasionally tried to surprise Lisa with a Cero blast. Lisa wasn't easily surprised though, and countered every single attack Hiyori fired at her without revealing her Shikai. This irritated Ichigo; he wanted to learn something new about Lisa as he was sure she had a lot of abilities she hadn't shown him yet. A fact which pleased Lisa to no end, Ichigo knew.

Suddenly, a loud explosion could be heard and Hiyori was thrown against the barrier and slumped to the floor. A huge crack could be seen where the girl had hit the transparent wall. The noise finally died down and Lisa walked up to Hiyori, picked her up, and carried her towards the small infirmary so Ichigo's sister could patch her up.

A few minutes later Lisa returned and sat down at his side, sporting a big gash on the left side of her face and her clothes were ripped and singed as well. She wasn't even seated for a few minutes when Ichigo's sisters came hurrying over asking for permission to treat her wounds. Lisa scowled and wanted to say no, but when Ichigo insisted that he only wanted to fight with her if she was at her full power, she reluctantly let Yuzu and Karin do their work.

"Nice battle," Ichigo commented as Lisa was being treated.

"I could've beaten her much earlier, but it was a good fight," she said, wincing slightly as Yuzu cleaned her wounds.

Ichigo laughed. "It looks like we're going to have to fight each other after all."

"It's not certain yet. Kensei and Shinji have to fight each other first. And then Isshin has to come up with a plan to eliminate the last participant. You could very well be the one who doesn't get to fight in the Final Round."

"What makes you think you won't be the one?" Ichigo asked as he arched his left eyebrow.

Yuzu and Karin left so they could tend to Hiyori and Mashiro. Lisa leaned against Ichigo, just like she had done before the tournament had started. "Because your dad likes me and I asked him to eliminate you if the choice was between the two of us."

Ichigo turned so that his back was against hers and frowned. "That sounds like my dad all right. Do you really want to see my baby pictures that badly?"

Lisa smirked. "Yes, of course."

"I can't believe my dad actually promised something like that to a bunch of violent Vaizards," he said shaking his head. Then he remembered something Shinji had told them. "Oh, Lisa, now we're talking about the prizes anyway, what do you think Shinji will give the winner of the tournament?"

Lisa shrugged. "Either something really cool, or something really stupid. I can't figure out what's going on through his head."

"Yeah, you're probably right."

When the crack in the barrier was repaired, Shinji and Kensei walked in and started their fight. Ichigo didn't follow much of it though as Lisa reached back with her arms and started playing with his hair. She tugged absentmindedly at the locks that fell past his ears and reached almost halfway to his shoulders.

"What the hell are you doing, Lisa?" Ichigo asked annoyed.

"Nothing," she said in an innocent voice.

"I don't know what you consider as 'nothing' but this isn't it in my opinion."

"Did you know your hair got longer?"

"Yeah, I noticed. That tends to happen when time passes," Ichigo stated flatly, his eyes narrowed.

Lisa remained silent for quite some time and Ichigo watched the battle between Shinji and Kensei. Lisa didn't. She just kept playing with his hair and closed her eyes. Now and then she would look on her wristwatch.

After twenty minutes she spoke up again. "You know, I really like your hair when it's longer. You should keep it like this."

"Can't you just be quiet and watch the battle between Shinji and Kensei?" Ichigo all but shouted.

"I'm serious, Ichigo," Lisa said in her sugary voice she only used when she needed something from him or when she mocked him.

"Oh dear," Ichigo said. "Not that voice again. What do you want from me?"

Ichigo got a very powerful elbow in his side in response. "Ouch," he muttered. "Can't you just stop this nonsense already?"

"Do you really mind it that much?" Lisa asked as she turned her face to the side so she could look at Ichigo with her puppy-eyes and a sad expression on her face.

"Well, no," he said uncertainly. "Not really. It's just . . . I dnno . . . weird. Shouldn't you just watch the battle? Don't you want to know who you might have to fight later on?"

Lisa smirked. "Not necessary, Ichigo." She looked on her wristwatch again. "Three . . . two . . . one."

At the moment she stopped counting a loud crash resounded throughout the basement and when the noise abated it was dead-silent in the basement.

Ichigo looked at Lisa with raised eyebrows. "What the . . ."

Lisa got to her feet and held out her hand for Ichigo. "For the past eighty years those two have been fighting quite regularly. Every battle lasted exactly twenty-five minutes and fifty-two seconds and resulted in a double knock out. I knew from the start none of those two were going to make it to the Final Round if they had to fight each other."

"That's crazy," Ichigo said, taking her hand. How could two people fight exactly the same for eighty years in a row?

"No, not crazy," Lisa corrected. "It's boring."

"But why where you tugging at my hair the entire time, Lisa? You could at least have told me that we would be fighting against each other. Then I could just have relaxed a little instead of trying to follow their fight."

Lisa grabbed a lock of his hair at the left side of his face and wound it around her finger. "Just felt like it," she said in a tone that Ichigo didn't like one bit. She released his hair and slightly pushed him against his chest before running to the barrier, glancing back it Ichigo twice, winking.

"You're impossible." He ran after her. Stupid, annoying, mysterious woman.

"I, Arisawa Tatsuki, accept the duties and all the responsibilities that come with the position of Vice-Captain under Soifon's command in the second division," Tatsuki said as she knelt before Yamamoto and Soifon. She was so excited that she had trouble keeping her voice even. Of course, the fact that she had only just regained consciousness didn't help either. The use of her Shikai had drained her. It was hard enough to control its power alone, but to do that and use her Mind Link at the same time was much harder still. She had a long way to go before she would be able to utilize its full strength. Nonetheless, it had been enough to beat Omaeda, and that was what counted. And judging by the reaction of the crowd they had been impressed.

"Then stand and acknowledge your position among the Gotei 13!" Yamamoto and Soifon said in unison.

Tatsuki got to her feet, turned around, and showed the crowd her new badge. They erupted in a loud cheer. Tatsuki's gaze swept over everyone and she spotted Sora at the first row with a few of her friends and Tarou standing next to her. She jumped up and down, grinning like mad.

Tatsuki didn't remember ever being so happy and nervous at the same time.

"You did great, _Lieutenant_," Soifon said as she laid a hand on her shoulder.

Tatsuki smiled. "Thank you, _Captain_."

The cheering was replaced by the sound of chattering, and the big throngs of people started moving away from the platform.

Tatsuki and Soifon wanted to walk away, but they were stopped by the Captain-Commander.

"Miss, Arisawa," he said. "Congratulations on your new position. I hope you will prove to be an asset to the Gotei 13."

Tatsuki bowed. "I will be. No doubt about it."

"You showed us an interesting fight. I have seen you are worthy of becoming a Vice-Captain. Your Zanpakutou is powerful, but you are still untrained. Fire-type Zanpakutou's are dangerous and very hard to control. You have the potential to take control of it, but it will take great strength to do so. I speak from experience and hope that you will take my warning to heart." He took one step closer to her and his gaze bore into Tatsuki's eyes when he continued speaking. "You are as untamable as a roaring fire, but remember: the best fighter is not the one who brings forth the flaming inferno, but the one who is able to quench it." He gave her a small nod of his head and disappeared before Tatsuki could reply.

Tatsuki didn't know what to make of that. She didn't know the man very well, but she could tell he had been very serious. She also knew that someone like him didn't give many people advice like he had given her just now. He was someone who let you figure out everything by yourself, unless it was really important. She decided to do her best to stop the roaring inferno, whatever it was he had meant with it.

Tatsuki looked at Soifon. She seemed to be deep in thought about the words Yamamoto had spoken. She wanted to ask her Captain what she thought about it when a man with a similar hair cut walked up to her. He had three long scars on the right side of his face and had the number '69' tattooed on the other side of his face.

"I am Hisagi Shuuhei, Lieutenant of the ninth squad," he said. "Pleased to meet you, Arisawa. Your performance was formidable."

"Cut the formal speech," Tatsuki replied. "It gives me the shivers."

He blinked with his eyes and smiled at her. "I like your hair, by the way," he said jokingly.

Tatsuki narrowed her eyes. "I hate yours. You can either let it grow longer or let me cut it so short that you can count the hairs on top of your head on one hand."

"Er . . . I guess I'll let it grow then," he said uncertainly, taking a step back.

Tatsuki's scowl was instantly replaced with a soft smile. "Good to hear that. Have a nice day, Hisagi."

She grabbed Soifon's sleeve and together they made their way back to their quarters, leaving a very confused Hisagi behind.

"What did I do wrong?" he muttered to himself.

"It's finally time to kick your ass!" Lisa said gleefully as she walked through the barrier, Ichigo walking behind her.

"Your mood changes are quite vexing," he said. "One moment you're being unusually kind and everything and the next you're ready to kill me. What did I do to deserve this?"

Lisa unsheathed her sword. "What you did to deserve me? You let your friend, Tatsuki, die. That's what!"

Ichigo's eyes flared in pain and anger as he grabbed his sword with two hands and went straight for a horizontal slash across her mid-section, growling as he did so.

Lisa caught his blade against her own. "That's the spirit," she said. "Let me feel your rage, Ichigo. You're going to need it."

Ichigo put more force behind the attack and started to overpower Lisa. He couldn't believe this. Why did she bring something like that up right now? Wasn't she the one who had told him that he shouldn't think about things like that in battle? That it distracted him too much? Ichigo gritted his teeth and give his sword a mighty push. With a loud groan, Lisa soared through the air and landed lightly on her feet, like a damn cat.

"Look who's gotten in the mood!" she said grinning. "It's been a while since I've seen you so pumped up."

"Why did you bring Tatsuki up?" Ichigo demanded. "You told me not to think about it. That's pretty impossible if you bring that subject up like this!"

"Don't just start shouting like that, I can hear you just fine." Lisa sprinted forward aimed a punch at Ichigo's forehead, which he easily dodged. "I never said you weren't allowed to think about her or anything else you're hacked off about. I only said that you weren't allowed to _brood_ over it. You see, your emotions can be very helpful if you use them in the right way, like you are doing now. Anger can be very good if used correctly."

"Don't start teaching me things I already know. My dad told me this ages ago." Ichigo Shunpo'd to her side and swung his sword.

Lisa leaned slightly to the side with her head and caught the tip of Ichigo's sword in her gloved hand. She finished the arc of his sword until she was behind him. She held her own sword at his throat and leaned close to Ichigo's ear. "If you know everything already, why don't you show me then? Because I think you've still got a lot to learn since you got mad at me so quickly," Lisa whispered.

Ichigo laid his own gloved hand over hers and released himself and his sword from her hold. He liked the fact that she was also wearing her gloves. They looked a lot like the ones she gave him, but then blue instead of shadowy black. He looked at the words written on his left glove. _Make me proud._

He instantly calmed down and felt more at ease as a grin spread over his face. "What do you say, Lisa," he began as he jumped back, surprising Lisa with his sudden change of demeanor. "Want to make a bet?"

Her grin matched his. "Now we're talking, handsome!"

Ichigo ignored the last part. "If I win this fight, you will have to tell me what it is you told to Inoue before she went to fight with Mashiro. I'm not falling for the 'It's a girl thing'. I know it's something you don't want me to know about."

"Boy, you are a perceptive one, aren't you?" she said mockingly. "And what if I win?"

Ichigo thought for a moment. "Then I'll show you all the pictures of me when I was still a small kid I've hidden from my dad."

Lisa's eyes lit up. "You've got yourself a deal, Ichigo." As she said this her voice grew heavier and heavier and a white substance bubbled in front of her. Her eyes turned pitch-black and she smirked like never before. This was the first time Ichigo had suggested a bet and she had to say she liked the terms a lot. She just had to beat the poor kid and all those pictures were hers! What could possibly go wrong?

Ichigo reacted instantly and copied Lisa's move. The two of them braced themselves and then shot through the air at a speed the watching Shinigami and humans thought impossible. The Vaizards had seen this before, but were still a little impressed. Especially at Ichigo. He had been able to increase his speed by a lot while training under Lisa. It had been a good decision to let them train together.

The air around them was static and the barrier shivered every time either Ichigo or Lisa flew past it. Hachigen winced and worked harder to strengthen it.

Ichigo released his sword quickly so he could pressure Lisa from the beginning. It was time she learned to use her own Shikai. If she didn't want to show it to him he had to force her to do it. It was the only way. Zangetsu was all too eager to help him out in the battle. "Getsuga Tenshou!" At the instant the attack was launched from the tip of his blade, Ichigo grabbed his sword by the cloth-wrapped tang. He dashed forward and swung it above his head.

Lisa nearly crashed into one of the boulders, trying to avoid the Getsuga Tenshou. Ichigo had been way too close when he had fired it. The boy was getting faster and faster every day. It wouldn't take long before she really had to use Sonido in order to be faster than him. When she moved past the boulder she had nearly crashed into, Ichigo appeared in front of her, swinging his sword above his head. He threw it at her, keeping the cloth tightly in his fist, and Lisa deflected it. That didn't stop her from being hurt, though. The edge of his blade skimmed the top of her shoulder. Lisa winced as warm blood oozed out of the wound.

She cried out in pain when Ichigo retracted his sword, hurting her shoulder even more. She wanted to whop his ass, but before she had the chance to do so, she heard a familiar sound.

"Bankai!"

"Damn him, he's really getting into it," Lisa muttered.

Ichigo dashed around Lisa with Tensa Zangetsu in his hand. He didn't allow her any breathing room and pushed her as hard as he could, until finally . . .

"All right, all right! Damn it you stupid brat, if you want to see it that badly I'll show it to you," Lisa roared. "Tsubuse, Haguro Tonbo!"[2] Ichigo barely had time to smile as Lisa immediately attacked him and smacked him in his face with the flat side of her blade, causing Ichigo to soar through the air, and crash into the barrier.

Ichigo blinked and shook his pounding head a few times. He looked back and saw Lisa still hovering in the air. In her hands she held a long spear-like weapon with a blade attached to it. It was so big she had to hold it with two hands. Finally he'd seen her Shikai! It was an ideal weapon for medium-long ranged attacks. A good counter for his Bankai if she managed to keep him at a distance, which he didn't doubt she could. Her weapon was too heavy to fight against with his own sword. He would need to resort to other attacks.

He launched a Kuroi Getsuga in her direction and tested how the heavy weapon had affected her speed.

A sharp pain in his right arm told him it hadn't affected her a lot. Ichigo thought he heard a bone snap. That couldn't be good. He quickly took his sword in his other hand and resumed fighting.

It looked more like dancing than fighting, though. Lisa swirled graciously through the air and switched places with her left and right hand more often than he could count. He had to strain his eyes to see every attack and every time he wanted to strike her she turned on the spot and switched her hands to give him a powerful blow where he least expected it. A few times she even threw he weapon through the air. His gaze would then follow the halberd and Lisa used that distraction to attack him and catching the sword before it fell to the ground.

Ichigo wasn't planning to lose just yet, though. He used his increased speed to counter as much attacks as possible and tried to close the distance between them. If he got close enough she wouldn't be able to use her Shikai as effectively. He went for her back with his sword when she was suddenly gone and reappeared in front of him, with her dark-blue Cero forming in front of the cross-shaped opening in her mask.

Ichigo's eyes grew wide as he realized he would never be able to dodge it. His instincts gripped him and suddenly he disappeared, as if his wish to vanish had been fulfilled. He heard a static sound and was suddenly behind Lisa. He was disoriented, but managed to act quick enough to surprise Lisa. With a powerful kick he sent her flying into the barrier. The transparent wall flickered, indicating that it didn't like it when people crashed into it time and time again.

Ichigo went to the wall, but Lisa recovered much quicker than he'd thought. While he was running forward, still wondering if he really had used Sonido just now, she grabbed the end of her Shikai with two hands and swung it upwards with all her might, causing it to crash into the barrier with Ichigo in the middle. Lisa looked at Hachigen, who seemed to be having a lot of trouble keep the barrier up and a smile formed on her face. Quickly, she jumped up in the air and fired a fully charged Cero in Ichigo's face, who's left feet had gotten stuck inside the barrier.

The force of the explosion blasted him straight through the barrier. Ichigo crashed into the ground, next to the small infirmary. He got to his feet and wanted to get back in the battle, but then he saw his dad coming for him and he suddenly remembered his father's words at the beginning of the tournament. _'You're not allowed to release your Zanpakutou during the tournament.'_ Ichigo glanced down at his Bankai.

Oops.

Isshin dove for his son in order to restrain him, but Ichigo dodged his father like he always used to do, and his dad crashed face-first into the ground. "Oi, you worthless son! Stop fighting immediately," Isshin shouted when he got to his feet again. He held up a finger and his face was bleeding. "You are disqualified from the battle, young man. I told you the rules loud and clear. Lisa won!"

"What! Why only me?" Ichigo said, turning to face his dad. "Lisa also released her sword, it should be—"

Lisa crashed against him, causing Ichigo to fall on the ground. She sat on Ichigo's back, leaned against her Shikai she'd stuck into the ground next to him, and pressed his face in the dirt with her left foot. He could barely even move. "What's with the chitchat, Isshin?" she asked. "This battle isn't over yet, he still has some blood left in his body. In fact I haven't taken out nearly enough blood to even make him feel a little light-headed. Quite an extraordinary accomplishment on Ichigo's part, if I do say so myself."

"This battle is over," Isshin said. "My worthless son broke the rules and released his Zanpakutou."

"Bollocks!" Lisa cursed as she smacked herself on her forehead. "Completely forgot about that stupid rule. It's just too boring to fight against Ichigo without letting him release his sword."

"Not to worry, though!" Isshin continued. "Since Ichigo has been disqualified you will win, Lisa. That boy ain't worth shit in the tournament anyway."

Ichigo raised his head a few inches. "Why am I the only one who is disqualified? Lisa released her sword as well!"

"Because you released your sword first, and I need to get rid of your ugly childhood pictures, of course," Isshin said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"Which reminds me," Lisa said cheerfully. "I won the bet. You need to give me the pictures you've hidden as well, Ichigo."

Ichigo couldn't help smirking. "Yes, that's true. I'll give you all the pictures I promised you. None."

Her mask trembled and shattered to pieces. "'Scuse me?"

"I told you I would give you all the pictures I had hidden from my dad. I didn't hide any. Did you really think I could hide embarrassing things like that from him?"

Lisa punched him on the back of his head. Ichigo's face was forced back into the hard ground. His mask shattered and he broke his nose. "I hate you," Lisa said menacingly. "You're the worst student I've ever had!" She got up, furiously, and walked away with Isshin, leaving Ichigo lying there on the ground, clutching his nose.

This was not the grand finale he'd had in mind. "I hade you, doo," he managed to get out.

[1] _Come to life, and breathe again, Sleeping Dragon._ (I'm really not certain if the Japanese translation is correct. I'm not very good at it so I used some translation sites, and this is what I got :P Please correct me if I'm wrong and I'll edit it)

[2] Smash, Iron Drink Dragonfly.

**A/N: **Some intense battle scenes in this chapter! All I can say is that it was very enjoyable to write. Especially Tatsuki. I stayed up way too late so I could finish it and afterwards I couldn't sleep for a long time because I was fighting Omaeda over and over again! I finished up the tournament as well so I could start with the real stuff. Aizen and Hueco Mundo will be getting into view more starting next chapter! I hope everyone enjoyed reading this chapter as I enjoyed writing it.

Now, as I announced at the beginning of this chapter, Bruuz and I are going to write a collaborated work of fanfiction. The prologue of our Harry Potter fic will be posted pretty soon and can be found on my account under the name: _In Between Good and Evil_. The story will be divided in two parts. Part one will be posted on my account and part two will be posted on Bruuz his account. For everyone who doesn't know Bruuz; he's the writer of _'To Find a Purpose in Death.' _A Nel/Ichigo story. In my opinion it is one of the better Ichigo Arrancar stories, but I could be biased as Bruuz has been my friend for several years in real life.

Anyway, about our new story. Bruuz and I have read quite a few Potter fics and we found a pattern that tended to repeat itself: Harry is shunned by his friends or the other way around and suddenly grows very powerful without a realistic explanation and kicks everyone his asses, or he starts training all his friends with jogging and weight-lifting and then they all kill the bad guys because Muggle training helps a wizard grow strong! Together, Bruuz and I attempted to break free from these patterns and came up with, what we believe, is a unique story. I won't go into more detail right now, but everyone who is interested should check it out!

Thanks everyone for reading this chapter. I really appreciate all the comments I have gotten thus far! I'll catch you next update.

Please R&R!

- Yonda


	21. Chapter 21: Author's notes

It's been a very, very long time since I last checked my Fanfiction. Sorry for everyone who has been waiting for new updates! The reason for my absence is that I've been writing a book in the last few years and I'm very proud to say that I've been published in my home country (the Netherlands). At the moment I'm working on the second book in the series, so sadly I won't be able to write on this FanFic anytime soon, even though I really want to!

I really want to thank everyone who has supported me and this story. Fanfiction has been the start of my writing career and is a great learning school. I've been able to develop myself as a writer and after the practice I've had here, I've become an even better author!

Once again a big thank you for everyone, and I hope my books will be translated into English in the future. Should anyone be interested in the Dutch version, don't hesitate to contact me via a private message for more info!

Bye for now!

- Yonda


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